Chicago Bulls: Career-high from Zach LaVine ends night of misery

It was far from pretty. It was hysterical at times. In the end, Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls came away with the victory Monday night.

The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks played basketball on Monday night.

Well, they tried — kind of.

Have you ever found yourself driving up to a 4-way stop, fully prepared to wave your hand at the person either on your left or right, should you both come to a halt at the same time?

Then, you wave, while saying the words “Go ahead,” out loud, as if the person in the other car can hear you.

More from Da Windy City

• 3 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks shootout loss to Nashville
• Chicago Cubs in the middle of chaos that is Shohei Ohtani’s free agency
• The Chicago Cubs are on a roller coaster of emotions chasing Shohei Ohtani
• Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates
• Chicago White Sox News: Erick Fedde signs two-year deal

That person does the exact same thing, at the exact same time. So, you start to hit the gas.

Then, the other driver starts to hit the gas.

It’s at this point, where the vicious cycle begins — unless you’re like me, where I only allow that to happen once before I slam on the gas and go on my merry way.

This is exactly what it was like towards the end of the Bulls’ game against the Knicks on Monday night. The closer it got to the end of regulation, neither team wanted to win. So, naturally, it went to overtime. The same thing ensued.

Turnover after turnover, missed opportunity after missed opportunity — the Bulls and Knicks each scored just six points in the first overtime. Yes, I said “first” overtime. At one point in this fifth period, the Bulls ended three straight possessions with a turnover — two of them coming on plays where guys stepped out of bounds.

Folks, this was a game in which the Bulls darn-near allowed Enes Kanter to go for a triple-double. It was bad enough that the Bulls saw Kanter demolish them on the boards and finish with 23 points, 24 rebounds and seven assists.

Late in the second overtime, Zach LaVine decided he had had enough. LaVine put the game away as he scored all seven of the Bulls’ points in the second overtime.

I’m only kidding. Emmanuel Mudiay tied the game up at 115 with just under three seconds remaining.

But wait, it did in fact stop there — and it was LaVine who made it happen.

LaVine was fouled going to the hoop, went to the line with 0.2 seconds left, and sunk a free throw to win it. It was a career-high 41 points for LaVine, who was one of the only bright spots on the night.

Overall, it was not a pretty game. Wendell Carter Jr., who fouled out in regulation, ended with another double-double (11 points and 13 boards) to go with a pair of blocks. He was impressive. Antonio Blakeney offered a spark off the bench while pouring in 17 as well.

Despite those performances and the victory, the entire game was sloppy. The Bulls turned it over 19 times while the Knicks gave it up 17 times. Both teams took a ridiculous amount of three-pointers, only making roughly a quarter of them (Bulls went 8-for-30, Knicks went 7-for-26).

When the game finally ended, most sane fans were just happy it was over. It almost looked like there was going to be a third overtime, but thankfully, LaVine ensured that would not happen. The Bulls, now 3-8, will travel to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.