LOS ANGELES — There was a time early in his Timberwolves days when Zach LaVine was considered a point guard, free to be a playmaker with the ball in his hands.
Frankly, it was a position he quickly outgrew. He’s an elite scorer first and foremost.
So there’s a reason why so many games in the first half of the season became clunky, especially in the fourth quarter.
With Lonzo Ball (left knee) unavailable and Ayo Dosunmu not used most games in closing situations, Bulls coach Billy Donovan went with a point guard-by-committee approach with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. The results weren’t good.
It’s yet another reason why the addition of Patrick Beverley has been so important.
Beverley is a disrupter on defense, but he also runs the point late in games. He knows how to get his teammates into the right sets and get the ball into the right hands.
The numbers don’t lie.
In 55 games without Beverley, LaVine averaged 24 points and shot 46.5% from the field and 36.9% from three-point range. LaVine was coming off knee surgery, though, so some time to heal has helped.
But his numbers with Beverley entering the game against the Clippers on Monday were ridiculous.
In 15 games, LaVine was averaging 29.3 points and shooting 54.9% from the field and 45.5% from long range.
Freed of having to bring the ball up and get the Bulls into the right offensive sets, LaVine also has been more efficient late in games.
“Give credit to Pat for coming here and giving us a jump of life, vocal leader, energy, and give us credit for understanding the situation and going out there and playing desperate,’’ LaVine said. “I feel like I’m supposed to be doing this. You put the work in, trust the work, understand what you put into the game, and the game rewards you. It helps us get wins. Keeps us on the attack.’’
Beverley has taken some of the leadership responsibility off LaVine. It’s not a knock on the two-time All-Star, but his leadership volume is usually set at five.
“It’s at 10 all the time with [Beverley], and it’s not negativity,’’ Donovan said. “It’s 10 in terms of, ‘Let’s go!’ and I think it galvanizes our team.’’
It definitely has helped out LaVine, who had some playmaking responsibility taken off his plate, allowing him to do what he does best.
“His shot attempts are always going to go up when he’s aggressive,’’ Donovan said of LaVine’s recent hot streak. “If he can start out of the gate just being aggressive or getting downhill and making those quick decisions for shots, what ends up happening is it gets him more shot attempts, and it opens up everything for everybody else.’’
The future
Beverley likes the idea of one Chicago kid helping out another, but that’s not the only reason he has grabbed Dosunmu and put him firmly under his wing.
“Get him confidence, man,’’ Beverley said. “It’s a long season; it wears on you. With the change in the roles, for young guys, older guys, my position is it’s not competition. ‘You’re the future point guard. My job is to help you get there faster.’ ’’
Beverley can be found after every practice and shootaround running Dosunmu through a series of extra drills and work.
