Luka Doncic's Mavs Cure 1 Biggest Problem in Bulls Blowout
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks announced going into Wednesday's visit from the Chicago Bulls that they wanted to break their habit of starting slow. Coach Jason Kidd's bunch did just that in recording a 119-99 blowout over the Bulls in which the Luka Doncic-led Mavs started off on the right foot... and for the most part kept that foot on the gas pedal.
"I think that's just kind of been our MO right now is the slow starts," Kidd said before the game at the AAC. "We got to figure out how to get the ball moving, get everyone touching it (and) everybody moving. The energy has to be better. We've been flat here at home for whatever reasons, so we got to be better with our energy."
Doncic helped accomplish that overall with his 27 points and his 13 assists. And naturally, Kyrie Irving was also pivotal in the win, which pushes the Mavs to 5-3 on the year.
Irving in fact was the hot-hand guy early, with Luka playing facilitator ... together busting a trend of sorts that had seen the Mavericks trailing after the first quarter in five of their first seven games this season.
Indeed, just the other night they sustained a home loss to the Indiana Pacers by falling down 15-2 to start the game.
Dallas was without center Dereck Lively II, who sprained his right shoulder while warming up for that Pacers game. Daniel Gafford was the first-team center in his stead and contributed 17 points and seven rebounds. Klay Thompson, the iconic former Warriors star who joined the Mavs this year, pitched in with 13 points.
Bulls center Nikola Vucevic was a lone weapon for the wounded Bulls as he contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead Chicago, which drops to 3-5.
