Bulls' LaVine irked by late benching: 'You play a guy like me down the stretch'

Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine wasn't pleased with head coach Billy Donovan's decision to bench him late in Friday's narrow 108-107 loss to the Orlando Magic.

"I got to do a better job at the beginning of the game to make my shots, but you play a guy like me down the stretch," LaVine said postgame, according to ESPN's Jamal Collier. "That's what I do. Do I like the decision? No. Do I have to live with it? Yeah. Be ready to put my shoes on and play the next game."

LaVine struggled against the Magic, finishing with four points on 1-of-14 shooting - including an 0-of-5 mark from distance. The two-time All-Star also had a game-worst minus-19 rating.

Chicago outscored Orlando 10-7 after LaVine exited with 3:43 remaining, only to squander a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds. Donovan, for his part, had no regrets about the move.

"I feel like my job - my responsibility in those moments - is to try to make the best decisions for the team," he said. "And I thought that was the best decision at the time. To me, I don't look at it as anything else but the one-off game where this is what was going on.

"I know he wanted to be out there. There's probably not very many games in his career where (LaVine) hasn't been out there in those moments. But that group was playing well, and it gave us a chance."

LaVine, 27, has endured a slow start to the campaign after undergoing offseason knee surgery. His 20.7 points per game is his lowest since the 2017-18 season, and he's played on consecutive nights just once as he and the Bulls attempt to manage his left knee.