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Over the past three games, we have seen both the good and bad sides of Zach LaVine. Ultimately, it may appear to casual fans that LaVine is simply the streakiest of streaky shooters (somewhat true) but in reality, whether Zach makes or misses a shot is usually dependent on the decision that led to him taking it in the first place. And we have started to see LaVine make better decisions down the stretch. We all know LaVine’s game comes with its flaws but if he is truly starting to turn a quarter in terms of fourth-quarter efficiency, then Chicago could be one step closer to escaping their current rebuilding phase.

In the month of December, Zach LaVine is playing like the All-Star talent we expected him to be in the 2019–20 season. Heading into Monday night, he is averaging 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from 3-point range on 7.8 attempts per game from deep. He has played like a player on a mission to make the Bulls a half-decent team this season.

LAVINE HIGHLIGHTS

The Bulls' last two wins serve as good examples of LaVine’s growth in terms of decision-making when it’s time to put the game away. Now just to get it out of the way, the loss to Charlotte on Friday was an example of “bad” LaVine.

While the entire squad was terrible— putting up 73 points in an embarrassing loss — LaVine was 1-for-6 from the field with no free throw attempts in the fourth quarter of a winnable game. His first two shots of the fourth quarter were a contested 3-pointer on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and a contested midrange jumper on Bismack Biyombo, both misses. LaVine never got into a rhythm and the Bulls sank heading into the second game of a back-to-back against the Clippers.

What made LaVine’s dud against the Hornets so tough to swallow was his clear understanding of attacking mismatches against the Hawks in Wednesday’s no-frills win.

The Bulls beat the Hawks so handily on Wednesday that the third quarter acted as LaVine’s clutch time and he buried Atlanta in that frame. People often forget that LaVine started his NBA career as a point guard. He flashes those skills often, including on the dime below where he created a scoring opportunity for Wendell Carter Jr. Before we may have seen LaVine pull-up for a deep 3-pointer here, but keeping time and score in mind, he led Carter to the basket for an easy score.

Zach LaVine is never going to be James Harden — sans some extreme changes to the Chicago offense — but the more he creates scoring opportunities for his teammates, the more he becomes an unpredictable player in an offense that has seemingly been too easy for opponents to figure out.

A dominating 35 points in three quarters performance against the Atlanta Hawks is nice but scoring a lot against a porous defense isn’t extremely exciting. However, LaVine flexed the same kind of positive decision-making in Saturday’s win over the Clippers. LaVine took advantage when the Clippers went zone, rising up for an (in rhythm) deep 3-pointer, knowing that Clippers’ guard Derrick Walton was still just inside the 3-point line, unable to get a solid contest:

And at the end of Friday night’s game, in the most crucial possession, LaVine showcased patience in allowing a play to develop and seal a win. It was a familiar scenario: close game, Bulls running an ATO that starts with LaVine receiving the ball near the top of the key. Except in the past, LaVine may have pulled up short of the rim or went (for his drive) before Dunn set the (pseudo) screen from Kris Dunn that worked perfectly after Paul George had already been chipped by Carter.

The most refreshing part of Friday’s win was that on the game-winning basket, LaVine finished through contact and got the foul call. This comes after LaVine had recently admitted to looking for foul calls in the fourth. Even if the referee hadn’t have given LaVine the foul, he would’ve won the game with his impressive one-handed teardrop — teardrop-ish? teardrop-like? — finish over Montrezl Harrell.

A player with LaVine’s amazing combination of speed and leaping ability should be able to make a living at the rim, and he usually has. Last season he got 70.2% of his points on drives. LaVine scored 9.5 points per game on 13.6 drives, shooting 49.6% on said drives. This season, those numbers are down to 6.5 points on 12.0 drives per game, shooting 37.8% on drives.

Whether it is because of the new offensive system having such an extreme focus on 3-point shots, adjusting to a new point guard (and teammates in general), the decline in shooting from Markkanen, or some combination of all three, LaVine has become a less effective slasher in the 2019–20 season. Over the last three games,LaVine is shooting 50% on drives to the rim and is scoring a whopping 77.4% of his points om drives.

If we continue to see LaVine focus his energy towards getting to the basket on offense, we will continue to see the Bulls play well as they enter a stretch of winnable games.