Bulls' Zach LaVine Explains Success Against Sixers on Friday

Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine had one of his best performances this season on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Checking in for 38 minutes, LaVine put up 19 shots from the field, with 13 of his attempts coming from long range. It wasn’t LaVine’s best performance of the season, but it was a close second.

Hitting on 14 shots, with 11 of them launched from beyond the arc, LaVine put up 41 points against Philadelphia’s defense. After the game, the star guard explained what allowed him to have that kind of success against the Sixers.

“We started off slow and then eventually started to pick it up at the end of that second quarter,” LaVine explained. “I was able to get in the lane. [Nikola Vucevic] had a mismatch with them being a little smaller and me being able to get in the lane and create. I just got hot. Shot the ball well tonight and was able to help us get a lead. “

Without Joel Embiid protecting the rim, the Chicago Bulls started taking advantage of his lack of presence in the paint. Once the Sixers looked to crack down on keeping Chicago from finding constant success at the rim, the ball was spread out.

LaVine, who had the hot hand, kept getting fed.

“You just fall into it,” LaVine added. “I’m confident with all the shots I take, but then eventually, you make a couple in a row, and you’re like, ‘Okay.’ After that, it’s just target practice.”

LaVine knocked down 74 percent of his shots from the field on Friday and nailed 85 percent of his threes. Tacking on two points from his lone trip to the free throw line, LaVine accounted for over 30 percent of Chicago’s scoring on Friday as they collected a comfortable 126-112 win over the Sixers.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.