Bulls just don't match up with Kidd, Mavs
DALLAS -- This city was buzzing about the return of point guard Jason Kidd, who played in three road games after being traded from New Jersey last week to the team that originally drafted him in 1994.
The frenzy peaked right about the time the Bulls and the Mavericks tipped off Monday night. It quickly became obvious this was a bad Eastern Conference team battling one of the best from the West.
At the start of the game, the Bulls handled the step up in competition about as well as Big Ten football teams typically fare against the SEC. Dallas exploded to a 22-6 lead as the Bulls missed 14 of their first 17 shots.
The new-look Bulls showed some character by fighting back, but they could never match the Mavericks in talent. Dallas finished off a 102-94 victory as Kidd finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Oddly enough, the Mavs piled up 22 turnovers.
"I don't think we necessarily came out flat," Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. "I knew they were going to come out sky-high. Jason's first game back in Dallas. So I said to the guys before the game, no matter what happens, let's keep our composure and play with poise. Every time they ran away from us a little bit, our guys hung in there."
The game took a bizarre turn late in the second quarter when Kirk Hinrich was given 2 technicals in a span of about three seconds by referee Monty McCutchen and ejected from the game for the first time in his pro career.
Hinrich had just chased down the long rebound of a missed free throw by teammate Thabo Sefolosha. Kidd swiped at the ball, it went out of bounds, and McCutchen awarded possession to the Mavericks.
Hinrich obviously felt it was the wrong call but never got particularly demonstrative as he pleaded his case.
"I wasn't that close and I didn't hear exactly what was said," Boylan said. "Obviously Monty thought he deserved to be tossed and he was."
After falling behind by 17 points, the Bulls (22-34) ran off 12 straight against the Mavs' subs in the second quarter. The visitors closed within 57-55 midway through the third quarter, then nearly got the ball back, but Ben Gordon couldn't hang on to a potential steal and Jerry Stackhouse made them pay by drilling a 3-pointer.
Late in the third, Dallas struck lightning when Nowitzki drilled a pair of 3-pointers around a Stackhouse lay-in for a quick 8-0 run within about 45 seconds. That surge put the home team ahead 72-59 with 1:53 left in the quarter.
The Bulls were back within 78-74 early in the fourth quarter and stayed as close as 5 points with 2:39 remaining, but they never pulled into a tie.
Gordon led the Bulls with 25 points, while Drew Gooden had 17 and Larry Hughes 14. Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 to lead Dallas.
"We competed," Gooden said after his second game in a Bulls uniform. "Some spurts out there, we could have played better basketball, but this is a tough back-to-back game. We didn't let up."