On a night when Luka Doncic wasn’t at his triple-double best and Kyrie Irving was sidelined for the second straight game
with a left foot sprain, the Mavericks were still able to exploit their opponent and come out with an impressive win.
Grant Williams and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined for 49 points, and the Mavs knocked off the Chicago Bulls, 114-105, Wednesday night before an American Airlines Center sellout of 20,103. The victory kept the Mavs perfect on the season at 4-0 and is the first time they’ve opened the season with four consecutive victories since 2004-05.
While Doncic finished the game with – for him – a pedestrian-like 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists – Williams worked the room for 25 points and five rebounds, and Hardaway came off the bench to pour in 24.
Also for the Mavs, Derrick Jones Jr. tallied 17 points and grabbed five rebounds, and rookie Dereck Lively II added seven points, 13 rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.
Coach Jason Kidd said: “I think, again, Luka trusting his teammates, understanding it wasn’t his typical night dominating offensively. He trusted the other guys on the floor and that just showed his maturity and his trust.
“We look for Luka to have 30-plus every night, but I think this is one of those nights when your teammates were there to support 
him, and he trusted them on the other end. So, that’s what it’s about – trust and chemistry and going through these different kind of games that Luka might not have 40.”
Second-year guard Jaden Hardy, who has barely played this seas0n, came off the bench and buried a crucial three-pointer that gave the Mavs a 106-100 lead with 1:41 remaining. And Josh Green scored his only points of the night on a three-pointer via an assist from Doncic with the 24-second shot clock about to expire that padded the Mavs’ lead to 109-100 with 56.6 seconds left.
“It’s difficult to say (Doncic) wasn’t super human, because of all the passing he did while double-teamed and making those plays for us still were incredible,” Williams said. “You’ve got to give him credit.
“He draws all that attention and it allows guys like us to play 4-on-4 – maybe even 4-on-3 sometimes. It’s pretty special to be able to play with him and watch him play. There’s going to be nights when he goes for 70 and there’s going to be nights where we have to pick him up.”
Jones was one of the players who picked up the slack as he converted 7-of-13 shots. One of those buckets came when Jones flew to the rim from the right side, skied over Bulls guard Zach LaVine, grabbed a missed shot and slammed it home for a vicious dunk which got the crowd buzzing and put the Mavs up, 65-61, with 7:54 left in the third quarter.
Saying “nobody boxed out,” Jones noted that he did notice LaVine was standing right near the rim and in his pathway.
“That isn’t going to stop me from going for an offensive rebound and put-back,” Jones said. “I don’t care who’s there.
“I’m sorry to say, but I don’t even care if my mom is there. If mom is there and she’s on the opposite team, mom is going to get busted.”
Another huge play for the Mavs came thanks to Lively. The Mavs were trailing, 92-90, when Lively somehow got his hands on an offensive rebound, and while falling out of bounds, he rifled a hard pass to Hardaway at the three-point line beyond the top of the key.
Hardaway converted the three-pointer, was fouled by Alex Caruso, then made the free throw to complete the four-point play and push the Mavs ahead, 94-92, with 7:11 to go in the game.
“I don’t know how (Lively) got the one to tip it and then be able to grab it and throw it to Timmy for the four-point play,” Kidd said. “That was a big-time play.
“He wants to do the right thing. He wants to learn and he wants to help his team win.”
In describing what transpired on that particular play, Lively said: “My job is to clean up the dirty work, and that’s what it is. I see the loose ball. I see it flying out of bounds, and if I can get to it, I’m going to do my best to try to get it back into play. It’s fortunate for Timmy to be in the right place at the right time, so I was able to get him the ball and he hit the shot.
“Whenever I turned, I saw him and it came down to just getting the ball there. As soon as I see my shooters, I know I’m going to try to get 
them the ball in the best possible way I can. Fortunate enough I was able to make the pass and I know he’s going to hit it in more often than he’s not.”
It was an awe-inspiring game for Lively, who was able to pluck off seven of the 13 offensive rebounds the Mavs had against the Bulls. He also joined Sean Rooks (1992-93) as the only Mavs rookie center to have as many as six assists in a game.
In addition, Williams made a career-high tying seven three-pointers in nine attempts while the Mavs joined the Boston Celtics (4-0) as the only remaining teams in the NBA.
“I was just taking the shots that were available,” said Williams, who scored 10 of the Mavs’ first 17 points. “I was told to not turn down shots on this team. If you get a rhythm, you kind of just flow.”
With that, the Mavs will “just flow” into Denver on Friday for a meeting against the defending NBA champions.
“We have, what, 78 more games to go,” Williams said. “I’m not focused on the 4-0. I’m focused on Denver on Friday, but we have a lot we can continue to learn with. That’s the mentality of this team.
“We can’t get comfortable, because as you know in this league, you can win four and then lose four. So, be mindful of that and understand that we have to take it one game at a time and that we have to make each other better every single game.”
X: @DwainPrice
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