3 things to watch as the Mavericks finish up against the Bulls

The Dallas Mavericks (25-56) play game No. 82 Sunday against the Chicago Bulls (31-49) with a 7:30pm tipoff at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks lost on the road to the Spurs Friday, 139-120, dropping their third in a row and sixth of their last seven. Cooper Flagg scored 33 points on 25 shots and center Marvin Bagley III left with a shoulder injury in the first quarter and did not return. Center Daniel Gafford, guards Klay Thompson and Brandon Williams, and wings Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington did not play.

The Bulls won twice this week, ending a seven-game skid with a pair of road wins Tuesday and Thursday against a Washington Wizards team playing without Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George, 129-98 and 119-108. After starting the season 5-0 the Bulls are limping to the finish line, as young stars guard Josh Giddey (hamstring) and forward Matas Buzelis (illness) have missed the last week, center Guerschon Yabusele left Thursday’s game and did not return (shoulder), guard Collin Sexton (finger) and forward Patrick Williams (thumb) have been playing through injury, and wing Isaac Okoro (quad) missed Thursday’s game. Both the Mavericks and Bulls lost admirably contested games this week to a Phoenix Suns team highly motivated to maintain its grasp on eighth place.

Advertisement

Paint patrol

The Giddey- and Buzelis-less Bulls stumbled out of the gate Tuesday, then found the best version of themselves, pressing their size and experience advantages on both ends and pushing the ball up in transition off stops and turnovers. Collin Sexton, the starting lineup’s only height liability, nonetheless played big in leading the Bulls in rebounding, including four offensive boards. Thursday appeared to be more of the same until Billy Donovan turned to the bench and a small backcourt of Yuki Kawamura and Mac McClung allowed Washington to erase a 13-point lead and briefly go in front. The Bulls woke back up late in the third, attacking the paint and getting to the line to keep growing the lead after subbing Kawamura and McClung back in. In their most effective stretches of this two-game streak the Bulls have sent a parade…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/3-things-watch-mavericks-finish-004248295.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-04-12 00:42:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.