In Paris, LaVine Scores 30 Points as the Bulls Upset the Pistons 126-108

The 19-year-old French phenom and presumed No. 1 player, Victor Wembanyama, was seated courtside. 1 NBA draft pick watching some of the opponents he’ll face in the upcoming season.

A man with a French surname also put on quite a performance.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons 126-108 on Thursday in the NBA Paris Game thanks to 30 points from Zach LaVine, who revealed that his great-grandfather was French.

“Maybe the air up here was good for me,” LaVine said.

For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan scored an additional 26 points, and Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists.

With 25 points, Bojan Bogdanovic was the Pistons’ top scorer. On 2-of-13 shooting, Killian Hayes—the only French player on either roster—scored four points for Detroit, but he also had a game-high eight assists.

Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey each scored 16 points for the Pistons, while Hamidou Diallo scored 17 points for Detroit on 7-of-8 shooting.

“It was a bit frustrating to not be the winners tonight,” Hayes said.

After both teams participated in clinics, tourist attractions like trips to the Eiffel Tower, upscale dinners, and even a private performance for the Pistons at the Paris Opera House, it was the culmination of several days of NBA celebrations in France.

While the game was important—Chicago (21-24) remained in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and would have secured the final play-in spot with a victory, while Detroit dropped to 12-36, the second-worst record in the NBA—it wasn’t your typical middle-of-the-season regular-season matchup.

The list of celebrities also included NBA legends like Magic Johnson, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tony Parker; Joakim Noah, a Bulls legend and native Frenchman; Wembanyama, a rising star who is the talk of the town; Gabby Williams, a WNBA player; Grammy winners; and Formula 1 drivers.

“I don’t want to quite compare this to All-Star,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “but it’s the closest thing to a We have a European All-Star Game.”

It was also an occasion to acknowledge the NBA game’s robust international presence. During the time that the Bulls, Michael Jordan, and B.J. Around 1 in 14 NBA players were born outside of the United States when Armstrong, then a Bulls guard and now an agent, attended the game on Thursday.

That is roughly 1 in 4 now.

“It is special because we’re representing not only Detroit, but the NBA,” Dwane Casey, the Pistons’ coach, said. “And we’re attempting to position the brand favorably in an area where basketball is flourishing.”

A large crowd quickly gathered when Wembanyama and his family arrived at courtside seats about 15 minutes before tip-off. He clapped and grinned, just like his mother who was sitting one row back over his right shoulder, when the camera found him and he was shown to the French fans on the large in-arena screens in the second quarter. The crowd was positively roaring with excitement.

The Friday flight home for both teams.

“It’s great for people here in Paris to get an up-close look at the NBA,” Coach Billy Donovan of the Bulls said. “It helps you realize how closely the sport is followed globally. The venue was full, and it was amazing.”

TIP-INS

The bulls are Derrick Jones Jr. had 12 points for Chicago, including four highlight-reel dunks—no surprise coming from a former NBA dunk champion. … For the Bulls, Ayo Dosunmu scored 13 goals. … Chicago shot 54%.

Jalen Duren, a player for the Pistons, had a rocky start to the trip when he misplaced his passport. However, after that was resolved, he played a perfect shooting game, going 4-for-4 from the field on his way to an 11 point, 12-rebound performance. … Isaiah Stewart pulled in 11 rebounds.

GLOBAL GAME

The United States has NBA teams. and The league has now played or practiced in seven different countries this season, including Canada, of course, and this game in France.

San Antonio and Miami played a game in Mexico last month. Additionally, the Heat held their training camp in the Bahamas. The NBA also played preseason games in two other nations: the United Arab Emirates and Japan, where Milwaukee and Atlanta played twice each, and Japan, where Golden State and Washington played twice each.

ROAD TRIP

It was a “home” game for the Despite the fact that Paris is about 4,000 miles away from Detroit, pistons. The Pistons were given the opportunity to bring a large number of staff members on the trip since they were the home team, including some game operations staff and members of the stat crew who work at the scoring table.

In charge of officiating the game were James Capers, Karl Lane, and Natalie Sago. On Saturday in the United States, all three officials officiated matches., then traveled to Paris.

Source: basketballnews.com