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LONZO BALL WINDS up and unleashes an overhead pass down the court.
Just moments before, Alex Caruso had hit the floor underneath the basket to secure another steal, feeding Nikola Vucevic, who quickly found the Bulls point guard. The baseball-esque throw finds its mark as the ball hits Zach LaVine, who takes two dribbles and throws down a 360-degree dunk with authority as a sold-out United Center crowd of 20,910 works itself into a frenzy in the Bulls’ win against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
The Ball-to-LaVine combo has become a near nightly connection in Chicago; “Chi Slama Jama” color commentator Stacey King has dubbed this new era of Chicago Bulls’ basketball. Ball has collected 10 assists to LaVine in transition this season, trailing only Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns (11) for the most frequent passer-to-scorer combination.
“We just got a totally different energy with the team,” LaVine said during the opening week of the season. “We expect to play this way. … This is the most excited I’ve been playing basketball.”
It has been years since the Bulls have provided reasons to muster this much excitement. No team in the NBA had a worse winning percentage (.339) over the past four seasons than Chicago. But after an aggressive offseason to overhaul the Bulls’ roster in free agency — bringing in four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, a defensive specialist in Caruso, who leads the league in steals per game, and the ever-crafty Ball to pair alongside All-Stars Vucevic and LaVine — they are already reaping the benefits.
It’s just so effortless@NBCSChicago | @ZachLaVine pic.twitter.com/iO8vjW9KMk
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 11, 2021
The Bulls are off to an 8-3 start, their best since 2012. They are one of four teams (Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat) that rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency during this young season, a surprise for even their most optimistic projections.
It’s the first time the…
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Source : espn
