DETROIT — Bulls rookie Coby White needed only two syllables to describe teammate Zach LaVine after the Bulls’ 119-107 victory Saturday against the Pistons.
‘‘All-Star,’’ White said. ‘‘All-Star, that’s all I gotta say. All-Star.’’
LaVine, a two-time NBA slam-dunk champion, never has been shy about his All-Star aspirations. And with Chicago hosting the festivities this season in February, it only has fueled his drive.
LaVine, the Bulls’ leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, is making a compelling case for his first All-Star selection. Despite some questionable late-game decisions, he has continued to refine his game and become more disciplined.
Saturday was a prime example of that. The Bulls coughed up a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, but LaVine broke a tie with a three-pointer before leading them to the finish line by scoring 13 of his 33 points in the last 12 minutes.
‘‘It’s almost like setting the table,’’ teammate Kris Dunn said of LaVine’s ability to close out the game Saturday. ‘‘You just can’t make food and think you are going to just eat it out of the pot. You’ve got to put the plates down, put the forks down, put the glasses down. That’s what he’s doing. He’s not scoring, scoring, scoring, scoring; that’s easier to guard. You get your team involved, you still stay aggressive and, when the fourth quarter comes, you just be you.’’
LaVine was versatile against the Pistons, finishing with five rebounds, five assists and a steal to go with his 33 points.
‘‘He did it in a lot of different ways,’’ coach Jim Boylen said. ‘‘I thought he showed his whole repertoire. He got to the line, drove it to the rim, finished at the rim, made deep threes. He’s perfected his shot fake, which is huge to us. And he makes it look really easy.’’
In his last 15 games, LaVine is averaging 27.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists and is shooting 45.4 percent from three-point range. That stretch includes a career-high 49-point game in which he went 13-for-17 from behind the arc.
‘‘His last 13 or 14 games, he’s played All-Star basketball,’’ Boylen said before the game against the Pistons. ‘‘I don’t think anybody can fight that. And before that, he was playing very good basketball, so he’s taking it to another level.’’
But even though LaVine has continued to raise his game, there’s a good change he will be overlooked because of the Bulls’ 12-19 record.
‘‘I do think winning is important for that [All-Star] vote,’’ Boylen said. ‘‘We need to continue to put some wins together, and he needs to continue to do his thing. If we’re winning, then it probably means he’s playing well for us.’’
The last time Chicago hosted the All-Star Game was in 1988, and the Bulls were represented by Michael Jordan. But the Bulls might be without a representative in February.
What would an All-Star Game in Chicago be without a Bulls player on a roster? Boylen didn’t want to think about it
‘‘It’d be great to have one,’’ he said. ‘‘And we’ll keep working toward that.’’
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Zach LaVine All-Star bid: Will the Bulls guard make it for the 1st time? - Chicago Sun-Times
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