Luka Dončić, Mavs Halt Bulls winning streak in nine – NBC Chicago

10 observations: Dončić, Mavs stopped the Bulls at nine originally appeared NBC Sports Chicago

For the first time since December 11th Chicago Bulls have lost a basketball game.

On Sunday night in Dallas, a blow from Luka Dončić and the Mavericks in the second half showed the Bulls ’longest winning streak in 11 years.

With a loss of 113-99, the tube ends at nine, and the Bulls (still leading the Eastern Conference) record drops to 26-11.

Here are 10 observations:

1. Billy Donovan called for the first extra time of the game in the first quarter at 9:10. Dallas had taken four of their first five shots – including two lightly controversial three-pointers and a Dončić finish for Dwight Powell – and led 10-2.

From that point on, the Bulls won the quarter 30-12 and led the second quarter 32-22. They kept the Mavericks 5-16 in shooting and four shifts during that run.

2. The Bulls did a good job of getting to Dončić at the defensive end early. Lonzo Ball and Ayo Dosunmu took turns choosing the Mavericks superstar from across the field. The rounds of help were sharp so he showed off his bodies in time. At 7.01 in the second period, Dončić had six assists but only three points in a 1-8 shot.

But as the big players usually do, Dončić eventually woke up. It started with two mailboxes Coby White and Dosunmu in the first half, then continued with surgical termination.

3. The Bulls jumped forward up to 11 in the first half and led 55-45 with less than 90 seconds left in the second quarter. But Josh Green and one, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber’s 3-point and several blank offensive games led the Mavericks to a 9-0 run, making the break 55-54 from the Bulls. After the game, Donovan showed this spurt several times as a turning point in the game.

Dallas then ran the 8-2 series in the first 3:26 of the third quarter, winning that 29-24 period and moving on to the fourth quarter 83-79. Dončić started the third and-one with a float over Derrick Jones Jr. – the first from 10 points to 3-6 shooting.

4. DeMar DeRozan made the Bulls’ first four points in the fourth quarter with a pull-through midfield jump and pass around Reggie Bullock. Bulls fans know what such a start typically means for the last frame.

But here the Mavericks tightened their hurry and threw immediate double teams at DeRozan for every touch during the first three minutes of the period, daring any other reserve lineup to beat them. With the exception of the cutting White layup, which attacked the close-up, no one did.

5. Then Dallas started raining fireballs from a distance of three points. The Mavericks made five of their first six long-range attempts in the fourth quarter, riding the triangles of Kleber, Dončić and Finney-Smith in a row to hold a 102-88 lead with 6:24 left.

The Bulls exited the timeout by cutting their loss to 12 after DeRozan was found Nikola Vučević dunk, but the Mavericks immediately stepped back on the gas and withdrew permanently. Donovan waved a white flag 113-95 2:21 left.

6. The Mavericks shot 16-36 (44.4 percent) in the 3-point range – 9-17 in the second half and 6-9-9 in the fourth quarter. Kleber was particularly sharp and set his career record with six 3-ball nine attempts. It’s rare for a Bulls team that has managed to drive opponents off the three-point line throughout the season.

But Dončić is a rare champion in batting, especially in screen-and-roll, where Dallas achieved great success.

“Dončić is really, really good, and he’s big and physical,” Donovan said. “What happens when they look for him and you fight to get back in front of him, he’s doing a really good job that I would call a‘ hostage. ’He’s trying to keep [his] with the defender on his back, he ends up holding a big one (defending the screening) having to protect his bet in front of the rim, and then it happens that on the weak side some guys opened up.

“When we did a good job on the screen and we were really, really physical, I thought it allowed our big ones to get out of the cover a little faster and get our guy back on the ball. We did a good job at other times. And I think it’s been pretty consistent in that our defense has been. We have had really, really good moments, we have done really good. And then there are other moments when we need to improve. “

Dončić finished with 22 points, 14 assists and 14 rebounds, doubling the game as he pleased by 15 points and seven assists in the second half. Eight of his 14-centimeter in the game led to three-pointers – almost as much as the Bulls (11-33) did as a team.

All in all, this was a defensive effort that didn’t please Donovan, who has recently come across the Bulls “slipping” at that end, even in the middle of their winning streak.

7. The Bulls praised the NBA’s best attack during that series, but that too evaporated on Sunday with poor shot returns. Going from the first half three-point point 7 points to 15, they only shot 4 of the 18 quarters in the third and four and didn’t find enough juice at the edge (where they shot 14 points). -23), center range (7-21) or free throw line (10-13) to compensate.

Zach LaVine led the team in field goal attempts but only went from 7-21 on the field – 2-8 in the second half – a rare off night from all three levels.

“In the second half, because we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, I think it leaked into the defense,” Donovan said. “I’ve said this before, if we don’t shoot the ball very well, we have to have something else to give ourselves a chance.”

8. Vučević’s worst play was a short time after he shot 6-17 on the field and 1-5 on 3 points. Many of his failures were clearly the wrong goal, which was a consistent sight at the beginning of his season during fainting, but it has been less of a theme lately.

9. Finally, a couple of positives: Ball had a handful of great defensive moments, even though he ran into error after making the fourth set in the third quarter. But he had three assists, he competed fiercely against Dončić and turned this abduction into a quick highlight:

10. And White’s recent high-profile game continued with 13 points, two assists, zero spins and a 5-9 shot line (1-4-3, 4-4-4 from inside the arc).

Again, it wasn’t just White’s scoring, but his decision-making that shone. In the first quarter, he drove a wandering Mavericks defender to the left, forcing help, and then handed Troy Brown Jr. a corner 3. In the second quarter, he ended up in contact with Marquese Chriss after attacking another attack, then moments. He later made a shooting mistake for Chriss with a beautiful feed of hesitation – demonstrating his ability to change speed in tight spaces that was never before in his career.

His first offensive possession also included a shot of the buzzer hitting the clock buzzer, a long defense ball pitch transfer 3 and a controversial right-handed goal on the left side of the rim.

By the end of the evening, White made his seventh consecutive double-digit score. We’ve seen him hit hard on scoring before, but this is perhaps as good as he’s looked at during his long NBA career. His recent hard goals also promise good, given his struggles in this area during the first two seasons.

Next up: The chance to start a new winning streak against the Pistons in Chicago on Tuesday.

Click here to follow the Bulls Talk podcast.