DETROIT — Guard Zach LaVine’s back was sore before the game.
And carrying the offense on a night in which the Bulls were embarrassed again wasn’t going to ease that pain.
LaVine admitted after the 118-102 loss to the Pistons that “popping some Tylenol’’ took care of the back issues, but there’s no pill that will fix an offense that looks broken.
Despite scoring a career-high 51 points, LaVine watched Detroit snap a 15-game losing streak against its division rivals, dropping the Bulls to 1-2 on the season.
“Obviously, I wasn’t happy with the way I was performing, so I wanted to come out and be aggressive,’’ LaVine said. “What’s upsetting is you don’t want to have a performance like that and lose. It sucks. I had some back stiffness in the Toronto game, but I’ve played through worse.’’
Plus, LaVine knows there are bigger issues than a sore back.
There’s an offense that isn’t working.
Is that LaVine’s fault? Is it any player’s fault? Or does this fall on the coaching staff?
It’s safe to say all of the above. But LaVine just cares about finding a remedy for the problem.
“We’re trying this new thing out to have a complete, cohesive offense, equal opportunity, and it’s going to take some figuring out,’’ LaVine said. “Through the first couple of games, me and DeMar [DeRozan] were in the corner a lot. Now we’re trying to figure out how to get involved with more touches.
“We all have to figure out how to help each other. It’s not going to be a 50-point game or a 20-point third-quarter performance by DeMar every game. You can’t live that way. It has to work like a [well]-oiled machine.’’
There was little of that against the Pistons (2-1).
One night after watching Alex Caruso and DeRozan rescue the Bulls in an overtime win against Toronto, LaVine decided he had next.
He had 19 points in the first quarter and shot 8-for-12 from the field. Before meeting up with the Pistons — a team he always seems to take advantage of — it had been a rough go for LaVine.
Going back to that season-ending play-in game against the Heat, LaVine entered a combined 13-for-51 (25%) from the field over his last three games, including 9.5% from three-point range on 2-for-21 shooting.
Those statistics don’t exactly scream max contract.
Then again, if only the Pistons were on the schedule for LaVine more often. In his previous 11 games against Detroit, he averaged 27.1 points and hit the 40-plus mark twice last season. So scoring those 19 points in the first quarter, then scoring 20 in the third was not much of a shock.
Impressive but no shocker.
And still it wasn’t enough.
The Bulls had no answer in the paint — they were outscored 58-36 — and watched the Pistons shoot 42.9% from three-point range.
So can this new-look offense that coach Billy Donovan installed work?
“It’s just something that we have to figure out,’’ LaVine said. “We each have been a main option of a team before . . . it’s just something new we have to figure out and go about it.
“It’s tough when you’re trying to figure something out that isn’t working. We’re going to stick with it, though. That’s what we have to do.’’
