Chicago Bulls swingman Zach LaVine was just one point away from forging himself alongside Michael Jordan for a franchise scoring plateau.
In the Bulls' game against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, LaVine dropped 29 points in the first half alone. This is just one point shy from matching Jordan's 30-point outburst in a half in 1997.
SAME ENERGY.
Zach LaVine's 29 points in the first-half is the most by a Bulls player sinceā¦ MJ dropped 30 in a half in 1997. pic.twitter.com/OwkcZoSLuI
ā Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 4, 2021
As expected from these performances, LaVine started hot from the get-go. He started off perfect from the field in the opening quarter.
Zach comes out the gate shooting 4/4 with 8 points š„@NBCSChicago | @ZachLaVine pic.twitter.com/YV9HI2F9S8
ā Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 4, 2021
Bulls Twitter knew that LaVine was onto something special when he reached 21 points in the first quarter.
šØ ZACH LAVINE IS GOING OFF šØ
21 points in the first quarterā¦ so far.
ā Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 4, 2021
It would've been great if LaVine matched or even broke Jordan's record. After all, the GOAT probably holds most of the Bulls' scoring records. Some of them might never be broken. But LaVine would probably be okay with it. After all, like most fans and NBA players, LaVine is in awe of Jordan especially after watching The Last Dance last year.
In fact, LaVine saw a different side of Jordan that he once thought was just a myth. Per Marc J. Spears on The Undefeated, LaVine said in April 2020:
āI didnāt really understand how much of like an addiction of competitiveness that he had. It was off the charts,ā said LaVine. āYou hear about people saying āI donāt like to loseā or different things, but it really bugged the hell out of him. It bugged him. So I didnāt realize how mentally competitive he was.ā
Safe to say that on Sunday against the Mavs, LaVine put on his best Jordan impression. He came up short of 30 but it's still a noteworthy performance.