Each team through the first 18 games of the season
Chicago Bulls (11-7)
If you would’ve told a lot of people — including myself — that the Bulls would win 11 of their first 18 games, and go 4-2 on the annual Circus Trip, I probably would’ve laughed you.
The way this roster was constructed (and the injuries they’ve suffered already), you would think that this team would be struggling. It’s not perfect, but they’re playing winning basketball in the first quarter of the year.
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They’ve surprised a lot of people early in the season and if they can get through a four-game-in-five-night span with a few wins, the positive vibes could continue to flow throughout the franchise.
They’re one of just a few teams that rank inside the top 10 teams in offensive rating (8th) and defensive rating (5th), according to Basketball-Reference.com.
How? Nobody knows.
Dallas Mavericks (3-15)
Things for the Mavs have been … bad.
Like, really bad.
They’re around the league average in defensive rating (16th according to Basketball-Reference), but they’re the worst offensive team in the league with the 30th-ranked offensive rating.
Missing a Hall of Famer like Nowitzki hurts, but when Harrison Barnes is your leading scorer, it’s not necessarily a recipe for victories. Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is one of the best in the business, but he can only do so much for a team that can’t score and doesn’t have a lot of talent right now.
Saturday night starts a four-game homestand for the Mavs, which is rather needed (along with many other things). In their last 11 games (10 losses), Dallas had played seven of those games on the road with their lone win coming at home against New Orleans on Nov. 27.