CHICAGO BULLS (26-10) at MAVERICKS (21-18)
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
TV: Bally Sports Southwest.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Univision Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Bulls: They are the hottest team in the NBA, having won nine consecutive games, including a 130-122 victory over Washington on Friday . . . Shrewd moves have led them to the best record in the Eastern Conference. They acquired Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso in the offseason, all of whom play at least 28 minutes per game . . . DeRozan has been sizzling of late. He had buzzer-beating buckets to win two games in a row last week at Indy and Washington. He has averaged 27 points, 6 assists and 4.3 assists in nine games since returning from a stint in health and safety protocols. And he’s done it all with only 10 3-point heaves (making five) during those nine games . . . DeRozan and Zach LaVine combine to average 52.9 points per game (26.5 and 26.4, respectively). That’s the highest-scoring duo in the NBA, just ahead of Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and James Harden . . . Largely because of DeRozan, the Bulls don’t take a lot of 3-pointers as a team, ranking last in attempts at 29.9 per game. However, they are No. 1 in 3-point accuracy at 38.7 percent . . . Vucevic is averaging 15.9 points and 11.7 rebounds . . . In Friday’s defense-optional win over Washington, the Bulls’ reserves outscored the Wizards’ bench 52-29. Coby White had 21 and Ayo Dosunmo had 18 for the Bulls’ backups. Dozunmu, the eighth overall pick of last summer’s draft, has averaged 8.3 points and shot 71.3 percent in the last 10 games.
About the Mavericks: They are riding their longest winning streak of the season at five games, which means something has to give since the Bulls are on a nine-game roll . . . The Mavericks also have won six of their last seven and in five of those games they held opponents below 100 points. Even on Friday, when Houston eclipsed the century mark in a 130-106 blowout win for the Mavs, the Rockets only scored 46 points in the second half, eliminating any chance for a comeback. The Mavericks also limited the Rockets to 42.6 percent shooting . . . The Mavericks have risen to fifth in the NBA in overall defensive rating . . . Medical reports continue to be breath-holding moments. Kristaps Porzingis will remain in health and safety protocols and is out. So is coach Jason Kidd. Willie Cauley-Stein is on personal leave. There was a question about Luka Dončić (sprained right ankle) all day Sunday, but acting head coach Sean Sweeney, who is pinch-hitting for Jason Kidd, said Luka is available. He missed Friday’s game in Houston. The right ankle is a new injury for Dončić, who missed eight games with a left ankle/knee problem in December and then was out five games for health and safety protocols. On the bright side, Boban Marjanović has cleared health and safety protocols and is not listed on the Mavericks’ injury report . . . In his absence, Jalen Brunson has been nothing short of terrific, averaging 17.4 points and 6.2 assists in the last 20 games, scoring in double figures in all of them. The only bad news is that Brunson has ruined his sixth man of the year chances because he is a sure-fire starter the rest of the way.
Twitter: @ESefko
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