PREVIEW
BULLS (13-23) AT MAVS (22-13)
Time: 7:30 p.m. CT
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: FSSW
Radio: ESPN 103.3 FM; Univision 1270 AM (Spanish)
About the Mavs: Mainly due to injuries, the Mavs are just 6-7 in their last 13 games. That includes a 1-1 record on their six-game home stand which, after tonight, continues Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets, a Friday night game against the Los Angeles Lakers and a Saturday night game against the Philadelphia 76ers before the Mavs start a two-game road on Jan.14 to play the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. . .The home stand opened with last Thursday’s 123-111 win over the Brooklyn Nets and continued with Saturday’s disappointing 123-120 loss in overtime to the Charlotte Hornets. . .Power forward Kristaps Porzingis will miss his fourth straight game tonight with right knee soreness. . .Shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. is probable for tonight’s contest with a left hamstring strain. . .Reserve forward Ryan Broekhoff will sit out tonight’s game with a fractured left fibula. . .Point guard Luka Doncic is averaging 29.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 8.9 apg. Doncic picked up his 10th triple-double of the season Saturday when he finished the game against the Hornets with 39 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. That’s the most triple-doubles by a member of the Mavs in one season, breaking the record of nine Doncic shared with Jason Kidd (1995-96). . .Maxi Kleber is coming off a career-high night 24 points that he scored against the Hornets. . .The Mavs are 40-36 all-time against the Bulls, including a 20-16 record during games played in Dallas.
About the Bulls: Chicago limps into town riding a three-game losing streak. The losses were all at home — Dec. 30 to Milwaukee (123-102), last Thursday against Utah (102-98), and Saturday against Boston (111-104). The Bulls got within 95-92 of Boston with under eight minutes remaining in the game, but could get no closer. Chicago had six players score at least 10 points against Boston. . .Zack LaVine led the Bulls in scoring against Milwaukee (19), Utah (26) and Boston (35). LaVine has led the Bulls in scoring a whopping 24 times this season. . .The Bulls are third in the Central Division and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and 18-and-a-half games behind the first-place Milwaukee Bucks. . .The Bulls are 25th in the NBA in scoring with 105.6 ppg, and 21st in points allowed at 106.9 ppg. They also are 6-10 on the road this season. . .This is the opener of a two-game road trip for Chicago. The road trip concludes with Wednesday’s contest at the New Orleans Pelicans. . .LaVine leads the Bulls with 23.8 ppg, Lauri Markkanen averages 15.1 ppg and 6.6 rpg, and Wendell Carter Jr. is averaging 11.9 ppg and 10 rpg. Also for the Bulls, Coby White averages 11.2 ppg and Tomas Satoransky is averaging 10.1 ppg and 5.3 apg. Over the last three games Carter has averaged 12.7 rpg. He grabbed 11 rebounds against Milwaukee, 13 against Utah and 14 against Boston. . .By the way, the Bulls will be the host team for All-Star Weekend this year from Feb. 14-16.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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