New faces Gafford, Arcidiacono contribute to big game by Bulls bench
Bulls coach Billy Donovan switched up the rotation during Sunday's 117-101 win at Dallas. Center Daniel Gafford and guard Ryan Arcidiacono got some action after not playing Friday in Oklahoma City, while Denzel Valentine sat out.
Gafford helped get the Bulls on track by scoring 7 points in nine minutes during his first-half stint. Arcidiacono played for the first time since the second game of the season. He's been out due to health and safety protocols.
"Really, there was no reason for (Gafford) to be out of the rotation against OKC other than the fact that I knew OKC was going to have at least a couple guys who were going to shoot 3s and it was an opportunity to play Lauri (Markkanen) some at the 5," Donovan said. "I give him a lot of credit for keeping himself ready.
"Just wanted to give them a chance in terms of their competitiveness and their fight and try to help the group as much as possible. The bench did a really good job. I thought the bench just did a good job playing with really good poise."
The Bulls got a season-high 61 bench points and it would be tough to shoot any better. Between Gafford, Arcidiacono, Garrett Temple, Thad Young and Otto Porter, the Bulls' bench shot 65.9 percent from the field (27 for 41).
With a depleted lineup, Dallas got more than half its points from Luka Doncic (36) and Kristaps Porzingis (20). Doncic collected 15 of the Mavs' 18 assists.
Mavs switch lineups:
What a difference two weeks can make. The Bulls beat Dallas at the United Center on Jan. 3, then completed a two-game sweep with Sunday's 117-101 win at Dallas.
No one who started in the first game for the Mavericks played on Sunday. The Mavs started Tim Hardaway Jr., Jalen Brunson, Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell in Chicago. Brunson, the Stevenson High School grad, scored 31 points that night as Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were both out with injuries.
In the rematch, Hardaway was held out with a groin injury, while Brunson, Finney-Smith, Richardson, Powell and Maxi Kleber are out due to health and safety protocols.