Zach LaVine continues his success again the Nets in Bulls’ win

BROOKLYN – Over the course of a 12-minute quarter, the Bulls’ two-time All-Star continued his strong play against one of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference rivals.

Zach LaVine’s effort was very much needed to help the team end their two-game losing streak.

Facing the Nets at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night, the guard had 20 points in the fourth quarter to add to his 29 for the game. That helped the Bulls erase a three-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to beat Brooklyn 108-99 to improve to 4-4 on the season.

LaVine scored the Bulls’ first seven points of the quarter and kept up the play for the remainder of the 12 minutes as his team outscored the Nets 31-19. The guard finished 6-of-10 shooting for the quarter, including 4-of-6 from three-point range to reach his 20-point total in the fourth.

With this performance, LaVine continued his strong play in his career against the Nets, which dates back to his first three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Before Tuesday’s game with Brooklyn, the guard averaged 24.8 points in his 16 match-ups with the Nets, which is the second-highest average of any team in the NBA.

LaVine has only had more points per game against his former team, the Timberwolves, as he’s scored 26.8 points in eight career match-ups against that team.

The guard played a season-high 37 minutes against the Nets as he continues to ramp up his play after offseason surgery on his left knee. LaVine has not been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Hornets at the United Center, which would be a change since he’s not taken part in back-to-back games yet this season.

In five games this season, LaVine is averaging 23.8 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game.