LaVine starts, then helps Bulls finish overtime victory

The Bulls returned to their more traditional starting lineup, including Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, on Wednesday against Houston.

But things will never be quite the same.

There's a matter of the Bulls having success and turning their season around while LaVine was sidelined for 17 games with a sore foot. It's also become clear Coby White is on his way to becoming the Bulls' best player, if he's not there already.

The Bulls had some nervous moments against the Rockets, but ultimately proved there's room for multiple stars during a 124-119 overtime victory at the United Center. The Bulls finished the game on a 10-0 run.

White led the way with 30 points, going 6-for-11 from 3-point range. LaVine piled up 25 points and 13 rebounds, one off this career-high. DeMar DeRozan added 19 points, while Vucevic contributed 18 points and 15 boards.

Ultimately, this game was a rough outline of what the Bulls can be if LaVine is playing the same game as his teammates. Trailing by 5 in overtime, he turned things around with a strong drive to the hoop for a 3-point play, then buried a long 3 to put the Bulls ahead. On the next trip, some nice ball movement led to an open 3 for White.

“He played an all-around great game,” coach Billy Donovan said of LaVine. “He assisted, he got in and rebounded.”

The Bulls led by 16 early in the fourth quarter, then somehow didn't score during the last 4:15 of regulation. The final stretch included three LaVine turnovers and a flopping technical against DeRozan.

Before the game, Donovan offered detailed praise of White and how he's developed into a leader this season. It was one of those statements that could have also qualified as a critique of another player on the team, but in this case he was talking about White.

“It's really, really hard to be a leader when you're one-dimensional,” Donovan said. “And he (White) was a one-dimensional player. Because he's become so multi-dimensional, it's a lot easier leading when you're in there rebounding and you're defending.

“He never took charges. He's taking charges now. When you start doing all those things, you now have a much bigger voice where you can start to hold other players accountable because you're doing things you would expect others to do along with you.”

Donovan continued with a point about White's commitment to being a helpful teammate.

“When you know where somebody's heart is as it relates to winning and being a team guy, you have a lot more freedom to say what you please,” Donovan said. “When someone's got ulterior motives, where it's about them and their points or their minutes, guys can see that stuff. I think there's a pureness to Coby as it relates to the team and trying to win.”

At that point, Donovan made sure to bring the Bulls' two highest-paid players into the conversation.

“I think Zach wants to win, I think DeMar wants to win,” Donovan said. “So I think they've all had more difficult conversations than maybe we've had in the past, and I think it's good when they can do that.”

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