LaVine on first NBA playoff appearance: 'It's about time' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Zach LaVine has waited eight seasons for his first NBA playoff experience.
So, needless to say, the Chicago Bulls' All-Star guard is champing at the bit with his debut looming on Easter Sunday in Milwaukee.
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"It's about time," LaVine said with a laugh after Thursday's practice. "I'm excited. I've said this, everybody's gotta play the cards they're dealt, and it just took me a little longer than everybody else — and I didn't cop out and go to a different team."
Indeed, LaVine weathered years of rebuilding in Minnesota and Chicago before the Bulls' front office constructed a competitive roster around him this season. The team's 46-36 regular-season record marks the first time LaVine has been on a team that cleared 31 wins.
But even as he averaged 24.4 points on better than 60 percent true shooting and earned his second career All-Star selection, LaVine's year was marred by lingering knee soreness, which has contributed to him oscillating in and out of the lineup since January.
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While he has conceded that the ailment will prohibit him from reaching 100 percent health before the end of the season — his last before entering unrestricted free agency — LaVine said Thursday that the team's week-long break between games has aided him physically. Without contests on back-to-back nights to manage during the playoffs, the hope is its impact on his play will be muted.
"The time has let me get some treatment and stay off it a bit," he said. "Obviously, having practices isn't as intense as games. It's been good and I feel pretty good right now.
"It gets better with rest. Obviously, the more pounding and impact you put on it it tends to get a little bit more tired, a little bit more sore. It's good right now. Feels good."
LaVine has spent the preparatory week participating in the Bulls' rigorous practices, poring over game film and receiving treatment on the knee in his downtime. It's all building toward a highly intense in-game atmosphere in which LaVine is confident he will thrive and the Bulls need him to excel.
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