One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls win vs. the Dallas Mavericks

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Dallas Mavericks 108-100 Friday in the United Center. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.

The Chicago Bulls ended their five-game losing streak with a 108-100 victory against the Dallas Mavericks Friday in the United Center.

Tank-o-meter

The Chicago Bulls’ record is 21-41 after the win. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are three games back of the worst record in the association.

Fun Fact #1

Forward Bobby Portis, the player of the game, scored 22 points in the Chicago Bulls’ victory against the Mavericks. It was his 11th consecutive game with double digit points. He averaged 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game on 46.1 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point land during the month of February.

Fun Fact #2

Guard David Nwaba recorded a 10 point-11 rebound double-double. It was his second double-double of the season and his first since the Chicago Bulls’ win vs. the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 26. Since being moved into the starting lineup after the All-Star break, Nwaba has averaged 12.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on 61 percent shooting from the field and 62.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Like: 4 vs. 5 basketball

I need to get a few things out of the way first. Forward Lauri Markkanen had an good game with 17 points and 12 (four offensive) rebounds. Guard Kris Dunn shot the ball better than he has in nearly two months. He made three out of his four 3-point attempts en route to a 18 point, seven assist and seven rebound game. As perviously mentioned, Nwaba and Portis both made positive contributions to the Chicago Bulls’ victory. Any one of them could’ve received a more thorough explanation of what there was to like about their game.

But, the most memorable moment of the night came towards the end of the third quarter. Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. committed a turnover in transition with 2:44 left in the third quarter. Smith walked towards his team’s bench because he believed he was being substituted out of the game.

The officials didn’t approve the substitution. This left four players for the Mavericks on the court. Smith attempted to rejoin the Mavericks after the Bulls’ possession, but it was too late. The Mavericks were assessed with a technical foul in a sequence that left their Head Coach Rick Carlisle confused.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Carlisle said, according to a March 3 ESPN article. “But with the substitution rules — Dennis thought he had been subbed in for, but he hadn’t. So he ran back, but they said it was too late. At least that’s my understanding.”

The Chicago Bulls failed to capitalize off this opportunity, which was the best part. Not only did Denzel Valentine’s open 3-point shot clank off the rim, but he missed the technical foul free-throw. The combination of bizarreness, sadness and hilarity makes this one of the best moments between two of the league’s worst teams.

However, don’t let Sacramento Kings over Vivek Ranadivé watch this sequence. Back in 2014, Ranadivé mentioned the idea of running a 4 vs. 5 half court defense to allow the team’s last defender to cherry pick for easy points. The Kings didn’t execute this proposal have played regular, albeit horrendous, defense the past four seasons.  But, watching this play and basking in the glory that a 4 vs. 5 defense only allowed 0 points per 100 possessions (a stretch, I know) might spark some more whacky ideas from the Kings owner.

We don’t need that.

Dislike: Poor start

There wasn’t a lot I dislike about the game.

I still wish the Chicago Bulls would make a more concentrated effort to set up Markkanen in better and easier scoring positions like they did earlier in the season. Guard Zach LaVine‘s has a frustrating tendency to take over possessions, stall the Bulls’ offense with isolation ball and settle for contested jumpers. But, neither of these irritations mattered too much during this game as Markkanen had a strong game and LaVine came through in the clutch.

However, the start to the game was cringeworthy. The Chicago Bulls allowed the Mavericks to score five easy buckets at the basket. The commencement of the game reminded me of the poor starts the Bulls consistently got off to last month.

Thanks to an improved focus on defense, and the Mavericks’ greater enthusiasm for tanking in comparison to the Windy City franchise, the Bulls pulled out the win. But, the result shouldn’t mask the flaws with the process. The Bulls must need to start games off with better energy and focus.