Benching rankles LaVine: 'You play a guy like me'

CHICAGO -- After converting conscionable 1 of his 14 shots and with the squad trying to rally from a double-digit deficit, Bulls prima Zach LaVine was benched for the last 3:43 of Friday's 108-107 loss to the Orlando Magic, a determination LaVine said helium disagreed with aft the game.

"I got to bash a amended occupation astatine the opening of the crippled to marque my shots, but you play a feline similar maine down the stretch," said LaVine, who finished with 4 points. "That's what I do. Do I similar the decision? No. Do I person to unrecorded with it? Yeah. Be acceptable to enactment my shoes connected and play the adjacent game."

In summation to sitting astatine the extremity of the game, LaVine, who made the All-Star squad the past 2 seasons, was besides absent from the level for a agelong long during the 2nd half, sitting from six minutes remaining successful the 3rd 4th to the 8:50 people successful the fourth. During that span, the Bulls chopped a 16-point Magic pb to 4 points.

Chicago inactive trailed by 4 points erstwhile manager Billy Donovan sent LaVine, who signed a five-year, $215 cardinal max declaration this offseason, to the seat for the last agelong for defender Ayo Dosunmu. However, the Bulls took the pb successful the last seconds, acknowledgment to a 41-point show from DeMar DeRozan and a spark from Javonte Green, who didn't play successful the archetypal fractional but went 4-for-4 for 8 points and 3 steals successful 18 second-half minutes.

The Bulls led by 4 points with 20 seconds remaining earlier giving up a brace of escaped throws to the Magic followed by a brace of missed escaped throws from Nikola Vucevic, which acceptable the signifier for the game-winning 3-pointer from Magic defender Jalen Suggs with 5 seconds left.

"I consciousness similar my job, my work successful those moments is to effort to marque the champion decisions for the team," Bulls manager Billy Donovan said. "And I thought that was the champion determination astatine the time. To me, I don't look astatine it arsenic thing other but the one-off crippled wherever this is what was going on. I cognize helium wanted to beryllium retired there. There's astir apt not precise galore games successful his vocation wherever [LaVine] hasn't been retired determination successful those moments, but that radical was playing good and it gave america a chance."

LaVine added that helium was not definite whether helium would person a speech with Donovan astir his thought process surrounding the decision.

"Just inquire him what his determination was, what made him deliberation that way," LaVine said. "Obviously, helium wanted to spell with immoderate different guys retired there, I wasn't having the champion nighttime shooting, but it's a pugnacious one."

Overall, the Bulls were minus-19 with LaVine connected the floor, the worst of immoderate idiosyncratic subordinate connected the squad connected Friday.

LaVine has been managing his near genu this play aft undergoing arthroscopic country during the offseason, but helium said his genu felt good and it didn't impact his show Friday. With 4 points, LaVine finished with his lowest full successful a crippled since March 5, 2018, portion shooting 7.1%, the worst tract extremity percent successful a crippled successful his vocation (minimum 10 shots), according to probe from ESPN Stats & Information.

"I've missed a batch of shots, but I've had a batch of games wherever I've played terribly and successful four, 5 minutes enactment up 15, 16 points," LaVine said. "I conscionable wasn't capable to sprout the adjacent shot."

The Bulls person present dropped a season-high 4 consecutive games to autumn to 6-10 connected the season.

After being 1 of the champion clutch teams successful the NBA past play (25-16 successful 2021-22), they person started this play 0-7 successful clutch games -- defined arsenic the people being wrong 5 points with 5 minutes remaining. Orlando had not won a crippled connected the roadworthy each play earlier winning Friday.

"No 1 is going to consciousness atrocious for us," LaVine said. "We got different crippled coming up and we got to win. It's inactive aboriginal successful the season, but you don't privation to autumn into this wont of losing, losing, losing and support saying we're going to get the adjacent one. It sucks. But I deliberation we'll beryllium OK. We're beardown minded enough, I deliberation we'll beryllium alright."