Bulls corral Mavs for second straight win
After pointing their horns in the right direction Thursday against San Antonio, the Bulls kept charging against another Texas team Friday.
The Bulls stretched their winning streak to two with an impressive 102-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. This was their second straight win at Dallas.
The Bulls (29-16) improved to 16-6 on the road this season and are 6-3 against the top eight teams in the Western Conference.
Joakim Noah returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four games with a right ankle injury. He was limited to just 23 minutes, finishing with 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 20 points each. Pau Gasol grabbed 16 rebounds, to go with 13 points. Taj Gibson, back in a reserve role, added 15 points.
Earlier this week, the Bulls set their sights on reversing a perplexing slump, which included 6 losses in eight games. Players shared their feelings during a long team meeting Tuesday, then they competed hard in a brief practice Wednesday.
The message of the meeting was do a better job competing and communicating, according to Rose. The Bulls responded with a much better effort Thursday, blowing out the defending champion Spurs by 23 points.
After beating the Spurs, the Bulls had to fly to Texas late Thursday night and play the Mavericks (30-14), who were coming off a day of rest.
The Bulls led from start to finish, but there were some tense moments down the stretch. Rose hit his first 3 shots from 3-point range as the visitors opened an early 22-12 advantage.
The entire team shot well from long range, going 9-for-16 from behind the arc. The outside shooting helped overcome a sloppy night of ballhandling. The Bulls piled up a season-high 24 turnovers. Rose led with 5 giveaways, followed by Noah with 4.
The Bulls lead peaked at 11 points in the second quarter. They led by 5 heading into the fourth. The Bulls pulled ahead 95-85 when Aaron Brooks hit 2 free throws with 4:30 left. But they kept up with the turnovers, and Dallas closed within 99-95 on a couple of free throws by Tyson Chandler.
The Bulls got a break on the next possession when Gibson was fouled with the shot clock running down. He hit 1 of 2 free throws. Then on the other end, Gibson fouled Dallas guard Monta Ellis as he buried a jumper. The 3-point play brought the Mavericks within 100-98 with 28.6 seconds left.
Dallas didn't have to foul and forced Rose to miss a running bank shot. But Rose hustled after the offensive rebound and the Bulls passed the ball around until Gasol was fouled with just 0.1 on the clock. The Bulls finished with a 47-30 rebounding advantage.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 24 points.
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