Per the Daily Herald's Mike McGraw, Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine (illness) will return to Chicago's lineup on Wednesday, when the Phoenix Suns travel to United Center to take on LaVine and the 4-13 Bulls.
Zach LaVine is here; probably won’t participate in practice today but says he’ll play Wednesday. Missed Sat’s game vs Toronto, said he shouldn’t have played at Milwaukee. #Bulls
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHSports) November 19, 2018
With the lack of perimeter scorers on Chicago's roster, LaVine's return against the Suns is timely, though Phoenix has an even worse record than the Bulls. The Suns rank near the bottom of the league in team statistics like points per game (102.1; 28th), opponent points per game (113.1; 22nd), 3-point percentage (34.2; 21st) and opponent field goal percentage (48.2; 29th).
Zach LaVine is the Bulls' leading scorer, by far, with 25.3 points per game, and he adds 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game as well. He missed his first game of the season on Saturday when Chicago faced the Toronto Raptors and the Bulls were clobbered, 122-183. With the Bulls already missing Lauri Markannen, Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine with injury, points were hard to come by without LaVine.
While the Suns aren't good, the Bulls need LaVine's scoring prowess to go up against Devin Booker. Booker, who is averaging 22.7 points and 7.3 assists per game, has long been considered one of the league's best young guards. Meanwhile, Deandre Ayton, the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, is averaging 16.3 points per game and is a proficient scorer who will keep fellow rookie Wendell Carter Jr.'s hands full.
*All stats gathered from Basketball-Reference
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