NBA Paris Game 2023: Zach LaVine leads Chicago Bulls to 108-126 victory over Detroit Pistons
Tokyo 2020 gold medallist LaVine put up a team-high 30 points to deny Detroit Pistons' point guard Killian Hayes a dream homecoming at Paris’ Accor Arena.
Basketball
Zach LaVine had 30 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Chicago Bulls vanquished the Detroit Pistons 108-126 in front of a lively French basketball crowd at the Accor Arena in Paris on Thursday night (19 January).
The Bulls emerged with a nine-point lead at the end of first half and held on in the second to win their 13th-consecutive game against their long-time Central Division rivals.
“We played the right way. It was a little sluggish in the beginning, but it was good,” LaVine said after the game.
"It's getting towards the second half of the season, it's getting close to the all-star break so we need to start picking up and playing like the team like we're supposed to be. I think these last couple of wins, we've been showing the right way we've been playing this year," he continued.
"Obviously, we'll get more from the fact we're back and fully healthy again, so we'll keep it rolling, keep playing the right way and just take each game as a challenge and try to win."
Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist DeMar DeRozan returned from a recent right quad strain and added 26 points for the Bulls, while Montenegro’s Nikola Vucevic recorded another double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. In all, seven Bulls players reached double figures for points.
Croatia’s Bogan Bogdanovic led scoring for the Pistons with 25 scored while rookie Jalen Duren, who failed to arrive with his team on Monday after misplacing his passport, made an impression on his return from injury with a double-double: 11 points and 12 rebounds.
French player Killian Hayes, who experienced the warmth of the home crowd, had four points, one rebound and eight assists.
Victor Wembanyama watches NBA Paris Game from sidelines with intent
The Bulls’ victory marks their second over the Pistons this season after they defeated the team from Detroit at home on 30 December, 132-118.
While the home fans didn’t get the win they had in mind through their local star Hayes, there was something else for them to chew on.
Top French prospect for this year’s NBA Draft Victor Wembanyama was among the stars sitting in the front row for tonight’s blockbuster game and, despite not being on the court, the seven-foot-four 20-year-old’s name was a name on everyone’s lips.
Staring at fourth-consecutive season where they are expected to finish with less than 30 wins, the Pistons are very much in the conversation for the No 1 pick, which looks set to be the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 player dubbed ‘an alien’ by LeBron James.