Zach LaVine scored a career-high 49 points and hit the game winner to beat the Charlotte Hornets 116-115 on Saturday, just one night after the Chicago Bulls guard was temporarily benched.
Coach Jim Boylen removed LaVine midway through the first quarter of Friday night's loss to the Miami Heat after the Bulls fell behind 13-0 and kept him out of the game for more than five minutes. LaVine, who told Yahoo Sports after the loss that he sensed a lack of trust from his coach, responded in a big way Saturday in North Carolina.
"I've always said Zach is a really good guy and a good person and he wants to do well," Boylen said after Saturday's victory. "He wants to help the team. ... My job is to push the guy to a place he can't take himself, and that happens sometimes with tough conversations, meetings and maybe some uncomfortable moments, but that's what my job is. The credit needs to go to him and his focus, energy and his effort.
"He is always good when we coach him and talk to him. He wants to play better, I want him to play better and I am really happy for him."
LaVine shot 17-of-28 from the field -- including 13-of-17 on 3s, tying Stephen Curry for the second-most in a game in NBA history. Seven of those 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter, which equalled the most in a single quarter in Bulls history.
The biggest one came with less than a second remaining.
Down two points with 8 seconds left after a Tomas Satoransky 3-pointer, the Bulls converged on Devonte' Graham and forced a turnover. LaVine came up with the ball, dribbled behind the 3-point line on the right wing and launched a fadeaway 3 to win the game -- completing an improbable comeback from eight points down with under a minute to go.
"I pretty much just said f--- it, I'm going for the game," LaVine said. "Really, though! ... Once I shot it, I knew it was cash."
Teams were 9-for-15,266 when trailing by at least eight points in the final minute of the fourth quarter over the past 20 seasons, a 0.059% winning percentage.
"Like I've been saying, we've been playing good in stretches," LaVine said after the game. "We just executed to perfection down the stretch. Obviously, you know, we got blessed a little bit with some luck. We can take this energy and go on to the next game.
"Hopefully this is that turning point for us. Every team has it. This could be a big step for us in the right direction."
LaVine is the first Bulls player with a go-ahead 3-pointer within the final second of a fourth quarter or overtime since Derrick Rose in the 2015 playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The most recent one in the regular season was Michael Jordan with a buzzer-beater against the Hornets in 1997.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.