Your Dallas Mavericks were able to get a closer than it should have been 113-106 victory over the injury-ravaged Chicago Bulls Wednesday night.
Caron Butler led the Mavs in scoring with 27 points while Dirk piled up 26. Jason Terry, the new masked man, played 25 minutes in his return from facial surgery and scored 9 points.
Unlike many recent games, the Mavs were able to get off to a fast start, ending the first quarter with a 32-20 lead. The lead grew to 25 at one point when the Mavs reverted to last Saturday’s defense optional attack.
The second half, especially the 4th quarter, turned into a layup drill for the Bulls as they were able to get several easy baskets at the rim, with many and-ones included, as Chicago, missing six players, including All-Star Derrick Rose, was able to whittle the lead down to 6 at one point.
JJ Barea was able to save the Mavs’ bacon with a couple of big plays at both ends of the floor, including a 3-pointer that put the Mavs up 15.
It was a win for the Mavs and hopefully the start of another long winning streak. For that to happen though, the Mavs need to keep their defensive focus for all 48 minutes, or else some of the better competition they’ll face in the future will make them pay for their lapses.
