James Harden, 76ers Explain Struggles Against Bulls’ Zach LaVine

The Sixers explained their struggles against Zach LaVine on Friday night.

Zach LaVine had himself a night against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. In 38 minutes on the floor, LaVine managed to get up 19 shots, leading the Chicago Bulls in attempts. Shooting efficiently from the field, LaVine’s sharpshooting gave the Sixers’ defense a fit from start to finish.

“[We] lost him a lot early on,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers explained. “We allowed him to go left a lot early.” 

You couldn’t predict LaVine would have a red-hot night in the first quarter. As the All-Star checked in for nine minutes, he made just one of two shots for three points as the Bulls were outscored by the Sixers by points.

Then, the star guard got it going in his next eight minutes on the court, making all four of his shots and scoring ten points.

From then on, LaVine could hardly miss. After missing one shot in the first quarter, LaVine missed just four shots from then on en route to a 41-point showing against the Sixers.

“He didn’t miss,” said Sixers’ defensive standout, Matisse Thybulle. “I mean, most guys are gonna miss a couple of them, but he really did not want to miss. And us losing track of him and him being able to get off good looks probably didn’t help.”

LaVine didn’t miss, is as obvious as it gets. In the paint, the star guard went 3-4. From beyond the arc, LaVine made a killing as he made all but two of his 13 shots. It was the second-most amount of threes LaVine made in a single game in his career.

“Make or miss league, and he made some shots,” said Sixers All-Star James Harden. “It’s as simple as that. He got hot, we couldn’t find him, started trapping, everybody else got easy opportunities because he was making shots. So, it’s just one of those games.”

Overall, the Bulls had a solid shooting night as they drained 57 percent of their field goals as a team. From deep, they knocked down 59 percent of their shots. LaVine’s dominance had a lot to do with that, as his shots were falling at a high rate, and he served as a distraction, causing easy looks for his teammates whenever the ball got in his hands. 

With no answer for LaVine on Friday night, the Sixers fell short to the Bulls with a 126-112 loss. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.