Maybe the most surprising player among the NBA’s current leading scorers, Zach LaVine found familiar territory while leading the Sacramento Kings to a win on Saturday night.
The Kings beat the Milwaukee Bucks 135-133 in a high-scoring game thanks in part to 31 points from LaVine. It took a full team effort as DeMar DeRozan fell just one point shy of reaching 30 himself and Dennis Schroder and Domantas Sabonis each put up 24.
However, as has been the case all year, LaVine led the way and posted his fifth game with 30 or more points this season. LaVine has now scored 30 in back-to-back games – he recorded exactly 30 against the Bulls on Friday.
LaVine has actually reached 30 points in every game except for one so far during the 2025 season.
Kings’ Zach LaVine has been on a scoring tear
He opened the season by scoring 30 despite a loss to the Suns on Oct. 22 and then followed that up with 31 in a 105-104 win over Utah two days later.
The only interruption to his early-season offensive tear was when he only went to 23 at Oklahoma City on Oct. 28.
LaVine entered Saturday’s game averaging 29.2 points per game, good enough to rank within the top 10 leading scorers in the league.
LaVine’s single-season high for points per game is 27.4, but that was for the 2020-21 season when he was with Chicago. He’s dropped off significantly since then, coming off averaging 23.3 last year from his time with the Bulls and Kings combined, and falling below 20 at 19.4 in 2023-24.
It will remain to be seen if LaVine can continue his current pace and keep up with the stars ahead of him like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tyrese Maxey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Austin Reaves, Jalen Brunson, Devin Booker and Victor Wembanyama.
Regardless of whether LaVine can truly stay a contender to be the league’s scoring king, his team of Kings will need him to wear the crown as often as possible to stay competitive. At the very least, LaVine could be on track to be named an All-Star for the third time in his career.
