Zach LaVine scored a career-high 49 points on 13 3-pointers and hit the game-winner to beat the Hornets on Saturday, just one night after the Bulls guard was temporarily pulled in the first quarter of Friday night’s loss to the Heat.
Coach Jim Boylen removed LaVine midway through the first quarter of Friday’s game after the Bulls fell behind 13-0 and kept him out of the game for more than five minutes. LaVine, who told Yahoo Sports after the loss that he sensed a lack of trust from his coach, responded in a big way on Saturday.
His 13 3-pointers are tied for the second most in a game in NBA history. Seven of those 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter, which tied the most in a single quarter in Bulls history.
The biggest one came with less than a second remaining.
Down two points with 8 seconds left after a Tomas Satoransky 3-pointer, the Bulls converged on Devonte’ Graham and forced the turnover. LaVine came up with the ball, dribbled behind the 3-point line on the right wing and launched a fadeaway 3 to win the game — completing an improbable comeback from 8 points down with under a minute to go.
LaVine finished the game with 49 points on 13-of-17 shooting from long range.