{"id":1221,"date":"2024-10-28T08:39:05","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T08:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=1221"},"modified":"2024-10-28T08:39:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T08:39:05","slug":"zach-lavine-delivers-reality-check-after-bulls-lose-home-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=1221","title":{"rendered":"Zach LaVine Delivers Reality Check After Bulls Lose Home Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2181263237-e1730087012205.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2181263237-e1730087012205.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2181263237-e1730087012205.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2181263237-e1730087012205.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Zach LaVine Delivers Reality Check After Bulls Lose Home Opener\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls looks on versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At 1-2, Zach Lavine and the Chicago Bulls are on track to keep their 2025 first-round draft pick that is owed to the San Antonio Spurs. It is a disappointing start for the players in the locker room, though; one they know could have significant ramifications.<\/p>\n<p>Their most recent came at the hands of former Bull Alex Caruso and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who came away with the 114-95 victory.<\/p>\n<p>LaVine was candid about one key area that went wrong: the Bulls\u2019 26 turnovers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to do a better job, especially myself,\u201d LaVine said, per Chicago Sports Network\u2019s K.C. Johnson on October 26.<\/p>\n<div id=\"148e83afd127471e1acbf9aaa4ba027f\">\n<div>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>It all starts on the defensive end \ud83d\udc4a<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder finished the night with 26 forced turnovers and 15 steals<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Bulls\u2019 26 turnovers led to 21 points for OKC. Caruso had 2 steals to go with 2 blocks and 2 rebounds. The Thunder did not need any more points than that from Caruso despite shooting 42.1% from the field and going 8-for-40 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Coby White Echoes Zach LaVine\u2019s Sentiments After Bulls\u2019 Loss<\/h2>\n<p>LaVine\u2019s remarks come after teammate Ayo Dosunmu called their season-opening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans a \u201cworst-case scenario\u201d after they blew their seven-point lead in the third quarter and, ultimately, the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurning the ball over is the absolute worst thing we can compound that with, because we\u2019re playing so fast,\u201d Dosunmu said, per The Athletic\u2019s Darnell Mayberry on October 23. \u201cWe\u2019re running up and down, so now we\u2019re turning the ball over and it\u2019s just compounding. \u2026 We can\u2019t do that. We\u2019ve got to just take care of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coby White, who had 9 points one night after dropping 35 points in a win, pointed to miscues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re physical defensively. But I think a lot of it was self-inflicted. Just playing kind of too, too fast. We want to play fast but we were playing too fast. And I think a lot it was turnovers that we either \u2013 we just lost the ball or \u2013 you know stuff like that. Or we\u2019d try and throw passes to somebody and we threw it over their head. Stuff like that,\u201d White told reporters in the locker room postgame.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve contributed a lot to the loss as a team. And then I feel like anytime a team going into a game, you got 26 turnovers, you\u2019re probably gonna lose the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dosunmu had 2 turnovers in the outing while White had 3. They were on the lower end for the team. Giddey had 4 and LaVine posted a team-high 7 giveaways.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Zach LaVine Continues to Rebuild Trade Value<\/h2>\n<p>LaVine and Co. shot 34.8% overall and went 15-for-53 from deep. LaVine finished the contest with 22 points, a season-low, shooting 46.2% from the floor which is also his lowest mark in 2024-25.<\/p>\n<p>However, his 4-for-9 clip from downtown was his best of the young campaign.<\/p>\n<p>That is another positive step towards the Bulls\u2019 plans to trade the two-time All-Star as they forge on with their youth movement. His attitude is right and he is producing (24.7 PPG, 47.8% 3P).<\/p>\n<p>LaVine still has two years and nearly $95 million left on his five-year, $215.1 million contract with a $48.9 million player option for the final season. That will likely continue to serve as a hurdle the Bulls must clear in trade negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>But LaVine\u2019s continued production could eventually be enough to tempt a desperate team.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He&#8217;s based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Bulls News<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zach LaVine did not mince words after the Chicago Bulls&#8217; lost their home opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zach LaVine Delivers Reality Check After Bulls Lose Home Opener - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=1221\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zach LaVine Delivers Reality Check After Bulls Lose Home Opener - 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