3 takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ 144-115 home win against the Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic missed the game with a right quadricep strain, and the Chicago Bulls made the most of his absence, crushing the Dallas Mavericks 144-115.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists; Nikola Vucevic had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Zach LaVine added 16 points and 4 assists in the win. The Bulls took control early, led the Mavericks 82-53 at halftime, and never looked back.

The Bulls contained Tim Hardaway Jr.

As mentioned in the game preview, the Bulls had to contain Tim Hardaway Jr. to win this game. Hardaway Jr. has been a key scorer for the Mavericks, making them tough to beat when he’s hitting his shots. With Doncic out, the Mavericks needed a big game from Hardaway Jr., but the Bulls did a great job neutralizing him.

Hardaway Jr. finished with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, proving his importance to the Mavericks. Doncic is Dallas’ best player, and his absence was felt, but Hardaway’s inability to step up on Saturday didn’t help their cause.

The Mavericks struggled from three-point range

The Mavericks live and die by their outside shots—there’s a day and night difference between when their shots fall and when they don’t. Hardaway Jr., in particular, struggled from three-point range, hitting two of his 10 attempts.

Dallas made 17 of their 36 three-point attempts in the 116-115 road win against Denver on Tuesday; they shot 13-of-40 (32.5 percent) from beyond the arc in the 106-105 home loss against Milwaukee on Friday, and Chicago held them to 11-of-44 (25 percent) from distance.

The Bulls had offensive continuity

The Bulls need to develop more offensive continuity to turn their season around, and the results from the last two games are a step in the right direction. Chicago can beat any team in the league when their Big Three of DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic go off, and the second unit steps up.

DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic combined for 64 points against the Mavericks, while Ayo Dosunmu, Derrick Jones Jr., and Goran Dragic led the reserves with 17, 16, and 14 points, respectively.

Yes, the Mavericks were without Doncic, but they still have a very talented roster. So all the credit goes to the Bulls, who finally used all their firepower and created many scoring opportunities for their stars, which had been one of their biggest issues this season.