The Latest Breaking News from Zach LaVine

The Chicago Bulls began their final West Coast trip of the season on a low note, losing 112-103 to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center.

They battled back to make it interesting but fell short. Guard Zach LaVine didn’t duck the blame game.

According to the newest Bull, there’s a defensive blueprint that started with Memphis and is now being sent throughout the league on how to slow down the Bulls offense. Or maybe, just maybe, the five-game losing streak is simply because four of those five teams were just more talented.

Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson: Bulls All Star Zach Lavine will announce new sneaker deal in next ten days sources tell @BallySports . Source: Twitter What's the buzz on Twitter? Joe Cowley @ JCowleyHoops Embiid with 43/14 - Harden with 16/14 - not bad ...

Zach LaVine said he still believes that he and DeMar DeRozan are the best duo in basketball. But Joel Embiid and James Harden might have a different opinion. Now the Bulls are left wondering how to start earning respect among the NBA’s true contenders.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan first messed with the idea of playing Nikola Vucevic and Tristan Thompson together in a practice Wednesday in Miami, debuted it Thursday in Atlanta in the second quarter and started them Friday. Will it have staying power? Thompson seems to think so.

Coach Billy Donovan pointed out that the coaches will keep LaVine away from players who run through a lot of actions from set to set, but “he’s still got a job to do.’’

The Bulls’ All-Star guard has had moments of tentativeness, especially on the defensive end the last few games, and that just might be his reality the rest of the season.

“I’ve always prided myself as an exciting player.”