The outcome of the match was rarely in doubt. Luka Doncic and his guys came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, opening up a 20+ point lead as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls 127-92 on Monday night in Chicago. That lead never narrowed.
Dallas started the first quarter with 44 points. Combine this with his 16 point offense for Chicago in the same frame and you can get a pretty accurate gauge of how competitive the rest of the night's games were. Still, there was some great basketball to watch!
No matter how hard he tried, Doncic was just three points short of the 30-point mark he's become known for recently, and was forced to settle for just a triple-double. He finished with a line of 27/14/12. However, he wasn't the only Maverick to perform at his best.
we are wiltwatch
Dallas rookie center Derek Lively II set a career high in points tonight with 22 points off the bench. He only missed one of his 12 shots (he grabbed the rebound himself and converted it to two). But in terms of efficiency, he was somehow better than fellow center Daniel Gafford, who had a perfect 9-for-9 record.
Gafford now hasn't missed a field goal in four consecutive games. Tonight's perfect nine means he has made up to 28 shots in a row. That number dates back most to the 1996-97 season when play-by-play tracking was introduced, and is eyebrow-raisingly close to the 35 consecutive shots made by none other than Wilt Chamberlain in the late '60s.
Throughout the game, Doncic helped give the big men some quality looks. Lively and Gafford both showed great hands and great finishing around the rim, and while not all of them were unprotected dunks, Doncic has improved his play at the center position.
For example, Luka and Lively's connection has grown even stronger through the game. Seven of Luka's 14 assists tonight came from Lively.
Finally, thank you for the meal
The Bulls have given up the fewest points in the paint of any team in the league this season. They concede an average of just 44.9 points per game. Tonight, Dallas matched that with about 3:30 left in the third quarter.
The never-ending barrage of Gafford and Lively was loud. They contributed 42 of Dallas' 60 points in the paint.
This was probably Dallas' most dominant win in years, in a game where they were pretty mediocre from beyond the arc, where they usually do the most damage. They shot less than 32% from three tonight, which is usually a disaster. However, their ability to create good looks down low meant they didn't have to sweat the outside shots that didn't fail tonight.
game within a game
With Dallas leading by more than 30 points heading into the fourth quarter, it seemed unlikely that Doncic would need to play again. But with just his 24 points and a 30-point triple-double streak at stake, it was probably a foregone conclusion whether he would be out to put an end to the game.
Like it or not, Doncic was pretty shamelessly gunning for 30 points to keep his winning streak alive, but Chicago seemed focused on stopping him at that point, forcing Doncic to score three points. Doubled well over the line to make sure he didn't give any openings in any way. .
Sure, there's an argument to be made that Doncic should have taken advantage of a very rare opportunity to limit his playing time (it would have been fatal if he went for six more points and got hurt and hit a tree). But that person is Doncic. Showman. Winning Player of the Month followed by Player of the Week was probably something he had in mind as well, and any talk of his streak has been amplified by the domestic exposure he's gotten this season. This is the longest positive streak. (A bit of irony after that 73-point performance earlier triggered the latest rant from the league's talking heads executives: “Players don't play defense anymore!”)
To participate in conversations like MVP, things like these streaks are added to a player's “MVP Moments,” and Luka may seem shameless, but there's a way to play the game within the game. I know.
