This kind of thing rarely happens for the Dallas Mavericks (37-28), but they visited the United Center in Chicago on Monday and knocked the Bulls (31-34) off their court, 127-92, in a game that was done and dusted after the first quarter..
The Mavs came out with their hair on fire to pick up their third straight win in response to this bad streak of five losses in six games. Luka Dončić led the Mavs with his seventh straight triple-double – 27 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists.
Here are five stats that contributed to the big win in the Windy City:
28 points: the Mavericks’ lead after one quarter
Slow starts have plagued the Mavericks since the All-Star Break. They trailed at the end of the first quarter in six of their last nine games before the game in Chicago and trailed at halftime in eight of nine, averaging nearly seven points.
The Mavs got off to a torrid start against the Bulls, however, sprinting to a 44-16 lead, their largest lead at the end of the first quarter all season. Dallas shot 18 of 28 (64.3%) in the frame, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range – compared to just 7 of 23 (30.4%) and 1 of 8. Dončić scored or assisted on 30 of those points and finished first with 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
It was the 20th 40-point quarter of the season for the NBA-leading Mavericks, and the game was out of reach for the Bulls. Chicago looked depleted on defense at times, as the game against the Mavs was the Bulls’ fifth in eight days following a four-game West Coast swing.
Chicago’s 35-point victory margin is tied for the third-largest margin of the year for Dallas.
22/7/3/2: Lively’s stat line
The Luka-Lively connection was automatic in the first half, as Lively led all scorers at halftime with 16 points. His 22 points at the end of the night were a new season and career high for the rookie big man. He had scored 20 three times this season before Monday’s game.
Lively scored on eight dunks in the game, as the sea seemed to part again and again for him in the lane. It never hurts to be the target of Dončić and Kyrie Irving’s post-entry passes when the opposing defense has no choice but to focus on them.
Lively has run the court exceptionally well in recent games, and the full-court leak pass is also becoming a real weapon for the Mavs when looking to get out and run on turnovers and missed baskets.
“Everyone is going to focus on Luka and Kai,” Lively said in a post-match interview. “That’s when the big guys can find free spots and do some damage.”
28: Consecutive Gafford field goal streak
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Will Daniel Gafford miss a field goal attempt again? Is Wilt Chamberlain spinning in his grave as Gafford nears his NBA record 35 consecutive wins? Everything is on the table after Gafford completed his fourth straight perfect shooting game from the field to the tune of 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Gafford made 9 of 9 that night to extend his streak of made field goals to 28 in a row. Chamberlain’s all-time record will be on the line Wednesday if Gafford can simply once again replicate what he’s done in the last four games.
Gafford and Lively went a combined 20 of 21 from the field as the Bulls’ top-ranked paint defense in the league apparently decided to take a night off. The Mavericks outscored the Bulls in the paint 56-46 in the victory.
92: Season-low points allowed to Dallas
The 92 points allowed by the Mavs to the Bulls constitute a new low for the season. After allowing just 16 points in the first, Dallas gave up just 22 in the third as well. Dallas’ defense held Chicago to 39.3 percent shooting from the field on the night and just 7-of-34 (20.6 percent) shooting from 3-point territory.
Earning a win based on dominance in the paint and defense isn’t usually how the Mavs do things, but it was good to see.
6: Luka Dončić at 3 points
Dončić was 6 of 15 on his 3-point attempts despite being a little trigger-happy in the fourth quarter, when the outcome of the game was no longer in question. Those six 3-pointers place Dončić (1,1,43) second in Mavericks franchise history for 3-pointers in just his sixth season, ahead of Jason Terry (1,140).
