Zach LaVine expected to play Thursday vs. Knicks [UPDATE]

Update, Oct. 28 — Zach LaVine is expected to play for the Bulls in their Thursday night matchup vs. the Knicks, per coach Billy Donovan. LaVine was diagnosed with a small tear in his non-shooting hand thumb and was set to play through the injury. He was then listed as questionable — something that could become common with LaVine. We’ll see if the thumb impacts him at all. He looked off against the Raptors in the first half but rebounded. This is a big game but the Knicks are also tough. It could be a slugfest, which means low scoring.

Update: LaVine is officially listed as questionable for Chicago’s Thursday contest against the New York Knicks. As previously stated, the shooting guard wants to play through the injury given the team’s record. The Bulls want to be cautious with their best player but the injury is not in LaVine’s shooting hand and doesn’t appear to be subject to aggravation.

Chicago Bulls G Zach LaVine is dealing with a small ligament tear in his non-shooting hand thumb and is expected to play through the injury, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. LaVine was off in the first half of Monday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors. He bounced back and looking fine, scoring 22 points in the win. The Bulls were able to improve to 4-0 on the season heading into Thursday night’s matchup vs. the New York Knicks.

The Bulls are off to a great start with the revamped roster. While the loss of LaVine in any capacity would hurt, the Bulls are better equipped to withstand that loss right now. Lonzo Ball, Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan are all capable of stepping up should LaVine be held out at all. We’d also see plenty of Alex Caruso, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. in that event.

For now, there’s no reason to panic for Chicago. LaVine should be fine shooting the ball, though it’s worth monitoring a bit. Once the injury heals, LaVine should go back to being the top scorer for the Bulls, who are looking to make a playoff push for the first time since 2017.