Bulls' Zach LaVine: 'This Ain't Last Year; We're Looking Forward Now' After Win

A new season offers teams and players a fresh start, and that's the mindset Zach LaVine is taking following the Chicago Bulls' 94-88 win over the Detroit Pistons.

"This ain't last year. We're looking forward now," he told reporters. "It's a whole new team. A whole new mindset. So, I'm excited that we grinded that one out. A win's a win."

LaVine led all scorers with 34 points, and nearly half of that total (15) came in the third quarter as Chicago climbed into the lead. He added seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block to his stat line.

The Pistons are widely expected to finish near the bottom of the league as they continue building toward the future. They were also without the services of No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham because of a knee injury, too.

A six-point victory over Detroit isn't the most convincing way for Chicago to open its account, but the result still counts the same.

Head coach Billy Donovan will also be encouraged by getting 29 combined points from DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball and a double-double from Nikola Vucevic (15 points, 15 rebounds). DeRozan and Ball hit the ground running with their new team, while Vucevic will have benefited from a full offseason in the Windy City.

Expectations are understandably high for the Bulls. They have a +2400 moneyline on FanDuel to win the Eastern Conference after missing the playoffs altogether a season ago.

LaVine's mindset and postgame comments are the kind of things that will set the tone for the squad.

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