Ugly night in Chicago: Mavs blowout Bulls |
CHICAGO - Well, that was fun while it lasted. Coming off an impressive 3-1 West Coast Road trip, the Chicago Bulls 31-34 returned home with hopes of putting together a strong finish to the season. Then came the Dallas Mavericks 37-28 to the United Center, where all that momentum was snatched in a matter of minutes.
Some games are won in the final seconds, while others are lost in the opening quarter. This was one of those games that was not only lost in the opening quarter, but you could also make the case that this game was lost in the opening minutes as the Mavericks dismantled the Bulls 127-92, leaving the home crowd frustrated yet again. This was one of those games that was over almost as quickly as it began. The Mavericks not only came out on fire but single-handedly torched the Bulls in the opening period, nearly tripling their output. When Ayo Dosunmu is your leading scorer with four points, you can see how much of a struggle it is. The Mavericks opened up a 44-16 lead after one quarter. The Bulls did a much better job on both ends of the floor in the second, holding the Mavericks to just 18 points while putting up 26, but any time you're down by 20 at the break, a win will take a lot of work. To make matters worse, Luka Doncic nearly had a triple-double at the half and would finish the game with a triple-double as he picks up right where he left off last week. Dallas then took it upon themselves to make sure the Bulls didn't have a comeback attempt in them, as they outscored the Bulls by 15 in the second half to make it look like this team was still on the West Coast. While getting blown out is a difficult pill to swallow, especially when you look at how this team played out West, there are a few silver linings to take away from the defeat. One of those silver linings was getting a chance to see some of your young guys play, as they will be an integral part of the future. Onurlap especially had a great game, as he not only led the Bulls bench with 17 points but also led all Chicago scorers in the game. Since getting called up from the G-League, Bitim has shown the ability to knock down the perimeter shot while also finding ways to score, as Billy Donovan needs to go to him a bit more. Julian Phillips also had one of his better games off the bench with 11 points, as his overall athletic ability has Bulls fans wanting more from him. Having those two get the minutes they received was great to see, but it had to happen when the Bulls starters did next to nothing in this one. Nikola Vucevic and Demar DeRozan led the way for the starters with 13 points, but with a 10-22 shooting performance, they weren't as effective as they would've liked. Coby White also managed to come away with 12 points, but it was another rough shooting night for him, and the Bulls saw this team shoot less than 40% from the field and under 20% from deep, which isn't going to win you many games. Not only did the Bulls' offense struggle to get anything done most of the night, but Chicago had to contend with the reigning Western Conference player of the week, Doncic, who continued to dominate this team. Doncic is no stranger to triple-doubles, especially against the Bulls, and after nearly posting a triple-double in the first half, he was off to another fantastic start. Doncic led the way with 27 points, adding 14 assists and 12 rebounds in what was another big night. That may have gotten most of the attention, but the Mavericks had several other players stepping up, which was aided by Doncic's play. Second-year man Dereck Lively Jr. showed up in a big way off the bench, adding 22 points and seven boards to give the Mavericks' second unit a much-needed spark. You also saw former Bull Daniel Gafford finish with 20 points and set a record as he made his 24th consecutive FG attempt in this one. Those were the main guys contributing to the Mavericks' overall success, but several others helped make the Bulls' night a living nightmare. Kyrie Irving had a modest 14-point effort, with Jaden Hardy adding 11 off the bench to round out the double-digit performances. Another former Bull, Derrick Jones Jr., added eight points, with PJ Washington coming away with seven in the victory. Even with the loss, the Bulls are in great shape to make the play-in as they remain two games ahead of Atlanta for the final play-in spot and six games clear of Brooklyn from being eliminated. Barring a big collapse and other teams getting hot, Chicago should get in as the 10 seed, and who knows what happens from there. While some easy games are ahead, things won't be much easier this week as they get set to take on the Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and Thursday for a tough back-to-back.
