CHICAGO – In the much-anticipated battle between a pair of division leaders, the Chicago Bulls showed their super powers by shooting the lights out en route to claiming a victory over the Dallas Mavericks, 117-107, on Wednesday night at the United Center.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Southwest Division-leading Mavs, who will take their 7-4 record into Friday’s game in San Antonio. The Central Division-leading Bulls improved to 8-3.
And it was the Bulls’ 50.6 percent marksmanship from the field and 48.4 shooting from three-point land that stole the show.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Mavs with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 21 points, Luka Doncic contributed 20 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, Dwight Powell scored 12 points and Jalen Brunson had 12 points and seven assists.
The Bulls were led by Zach LaVine (23 points), Lonzo Ball (21 points), Nikola Vucevic (18 points, 10 boards), DeMar DeRozan (17 points, seven rebounds) and Alex Caruso (16 points, six steals).
“We played 22 minutes, I thought, at a very high level,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Then right there before the half, with two minutes left, they went on a run and we just couldn’t recover from that.
“But I thought up to that point there were two of the guys we talked about before the game that were shooting the three at a high level – LaVine and Ball. We’ve got to do a better job with that.”
Ball was an amazing 7-of-10 from three-point range, and LaVine connected on both of his three-point attempts. Caruso, meanwhile, came off the bench and fired in 3-of-4 baskets from long distance, including one at the outset of the fourth quarter that put the Bulls up, 98-80.
So what happened to the Mavs after the opening 22 minutes?
“I think we started to put a little stress on ourselves in a sense of making shots,” Kidd said. “In that stretch we didn’t make shots, we didn’t take advantage of the matchups that were on the floor.”
Wednesday’s game started a difficult stretch where the Mavs will play the Bulls, San Antonio, Denver, Phoenix (twice) and the Los Angeles Clippers (twice) in a span of two weeks. And it will offer some signs of what type of team the Mavs have at this stage of the season, since all of those games, except the one against Denver, are on the road.
“No matter if it’s seven (games) you guys label as tough, they’re all tough,” Kidd said. “It’s the highest level of basketball. We don’t have the luxury of taking anybody lightly.”
Caruso definitely didn’t take the Mavs lightly. In addition to his scoring, Caruso was pesky on the defensive end as he came up with six of the Bulls’ nine steals.
“We probably, I guess, (had) mental lapses on just the little things,” said Hardaway, who was 5-of-9 from downtown. “We knew they wanted to get out in transition and score the ball. That’s their way of getting themselves going.
“We just got to be better. We can’t keep on saying that. We’ve got to go out there and execute and make sure we do that from here on out.”
Behind nine points and four rebounds from Vucevic, the Bulls raced out to a 24-13 lead with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter. Vucevic kept working inside for multiple baskets, and even floated to the perimeter and nailed a three-pointer.
However, once Brunson entered the game, the tide changed in the Mavs’ favor.
During his seven-minute stint in the first quarter, Brunson tallied eight points. In two significant sequences, he drove in for a basket with his left hand, then went to the other side of the court and drove in for a basket with the right hand, was fouled and completed the three-point play by burying the free throw as the Mavs eventually mounted a 46-39 lead.
But the Bulls kept on charging and charging and throwing waves of players at the Mavs, and that led to Chicago assuming a 61-54 lead at intermission. From there, the Bulls just had so many players getting out in transition and converting easy opportunity dunks, much to the chagrin of the Mavs.
Meanwhile, Doncic was only 6-of-18 from the floor and 1-of-6 from behind the three-point arc, and wasn’t at all pleased with his body of work against the Bulls. Asked to rate his performance, Doncic said: “Bad. All the way. I think the shots, they don’t fall.
“I should have taken better shots. I know I always say this, but honestly I’ve got to do it, not just say it.”
Doncic, though, knows he can’t carry the weight of this team on his lofty shoulders night after night.
“In my position, I think, every time people expect me to have an amazing game, not having nights off,” Doncic said. “As long as we win, I’m good, even if it’s a bad game or a good game.”
Although Kidd was obviously disappointed in the performance by the Mavs, he was impressed by the Bulls, even though it came at his team’s expense.
“Chicago’s playing extremely well,” Kidd said. They’re a good team. They have quite a few All-Stars over there.”
DeRozan is a four-time All-Star, Vucevic has made two All-Star appearances, and LaVine got his first All-Star papers last season.
“I think you’ve got two great human beings, two great basketball players,” Kidd said, referring to DeRozan and LaVine. “I think the dynamic is pretty cool that those two feed off of each other. They’re not complaining of someone taking too many shots. They’re pros, they want to win, and you see that the environment that they’ve created here in a short amount of time is at a very high level.”
It’s that very high level of basketball – on a game-by-game basis — that the Mavs are seeking. They hope to reach that level on Friday against San Antonio.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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