Between Chicago on 9 straight wins and Dallas on five consecutive successes, a series was bound to stop last night on the floor of the American Airlines Center. Behind Luka Doncic’s third triple-double of the season (22 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists), it was the Mavs who made their law against Chicago (113-99).
Helped by Josh Green (18 points – career record) and Maxi Kleber (16 points), the Mavericks were able to place the decisive boost late in the game, despite the efforts of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine (20 points each ). It’s the longest winning streak since April 2016 for Dallas. You even have to go back to the title season, in 2011, to find a longer winning streak for the Mavs. A good sign ?
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Dallas ends strong. Caught by the throat by the Bulls, with a Zach LaVine (9 points) already very enterprising in the first quarter, the Mavs tied with Chicago for three quarters, before placing the decisive boost in the last quarter. Leading by two points early in the fourth quarter, the Mavs then went on to make a 19-7 that put Chicago on the ropes for good. At 102-88 with a little over 6 minutes to go, Doncic & Co were able to sail calmly towards victory, with a sparkling Josh Green to conclude the match with two almost identical alley-oops in exclamation marks.
– The Mavs defend! On this series of six wins in a row, Dallas turns at an average gap of 16 points, holding its opponents well under 100 points, at 93 units. Sunday night, the Mavs confirmed this defensive solidarity (new) by keeping the Bulls under 100 points for the first time since December 11, knowing that Chicago is 111 points on average (8th in the League). “The defensive cohesion combined with our effort has been really strong lately”, appreciated Sean Sweeney, the interim coach of the Mavs while Jason Kidd is in health protocol. “We did a good job of putting our game plan in place and, if something wasn’t planned, we helped each other out when needed. “
– The Bulls stop at 9. A victory in Dallas would have allowed the Bulls to join franchise history. It would have been the longest winning streak since 1997-98, the last dance of Michael Jordan and his two-time triple NBA champion Bulls. But last night, Chicago seemed tired, especially at the end of the game, finishing in particular 4/18 to 3-points in the second half. “It would have been nice to have 10 wins in a row, but we didn’t play well enough to win”, regretted Nikola Vucevic, limited to 13 points in 17 attempted shots.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅Luka Doncic. Appeared only five times in December, Luka Doncic still lacks rhythm and it was felt last night with still a lot of waste in the game (8/21 on shots in particular). But the “Wonderboy” of the Mavs still put his paw on this game with a 3rd triple-double this season, and wide with that, 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. He was the catalyst for his team’s end of the cannonball game.
✅Josh Green. He’s the man in Dallas form! Author of his career record last Friday, with 17 points in the big victory in Houston, the young Australian fullback did even better last night, finishing with 18 points and 6 rebounds, all at 8/10 on shots and 1 / 1 to 3-point. Always on the move, he was poison to the Bulls’ defense, scoring 9 of his 18 points in the final quarter: “I managed to find my rhythm and I was just able to build on it. “
✅Maxi Kleber. In its fifth season in Dallas, Maxi Kleber is part of the furniture. The Würzburg native borrowed a page from the book of his illustrious predecessor (Dirk Nowitzki) last night, with a record tied at 3 points, 6/9 behind the arc. Inside duty, he was bleeding offensively. “Everyone followed the game plan well, we never lost our cool”, appreciated the veteran after the victory.
⛔Zach LaVine. Aggressive from the first quarter, with 9 points, the rear tried to set the tone for his Bulls but, clumsy all evening, the Chicago All-Star failed to weigh as usual. Author of 20 points, but in 21 shots, he was simply well held by the defense of the Mavs and Dorian Finney-Smith.
⛔Nikola Vucevic. Likewise, Nikola Vucevic was not as radiant as usual last night. With 13 points at 6/17 on shots, the All-Star pivot stammered his basketball, not managing to straighten the bar either at the end of the match. When the Mavs inexorably made the difference in the last quarter …
THE FOLLOWING
Chicago (26-11): back home for three games, starting with Detroit on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
Dallas (22-18): small “road trip” of two matches, with the first stage in New York, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
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