NBA: Bulls blast Mavericks as Luka Doncic sits out
DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls shoots a three-point basket in the second half against Tim Hardaway Jr. #11 of the Dallas Mavericks at United Center on December 10, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Quinn Harris/Getty Images/AFP
DeMar DeRozan collected 28 points and nine rebounds and Nikola Vucevic added 20 and eight, respectively, to propel the host Chicago Bulls to a 144-115 blowout victory over the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
DeRozan and Vucevic combined to make 17 of 24 shots from the floor for the Bulls, who took advantage of the absence of Luka Doncic to record 82 points in the first half and a season-high point total overall.
Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu scored 17 points off the bench and Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. each had 16. Williams and Jones each drained four 3-pointers for the Bulls, who made 63.5 percent of their shots from the floor (54-for-85) and 55.9 percent from beyond the arc (19-for-34).
Don’t forget this man is a former dunk champion.@TheRea1DJones | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/C7bQ2SFMIW
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 11, 2022
Doncic, who entered Saturday averaging an NBA-best 32.9 points per game, sat out due to a right quadriceps strain. The decision to rest came one day after he erupted for 33 points and 11 assists in Dallas’ 106-105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
In addition to Doncic, Dallas also was without Maxi Kleber (right foot soreness) and Josh Green (right elbow sprain).
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 27 points with eight assists and Christian Wood added 21 and nine rebounds for the Mavericks, who fell to 3-9 on the road this season.
After seeing its 18-point lead trimmed to 10 through the first quarter, Chicago scored 26 of the first 35 points of the second to seize a 66-39 lead with 5:22 to play in the half. The advantage got pushed to 31 following a dunk by Vucevic with 57.5 seconds to play in the quarter.
BLOCK PARTY AT THE UC.#BullsNation | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/f9MbswPgSf
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 11, 2022
Chicago was not seriously threatened the rest of the way.
All was not rosy for the Bulls, however. Alex Caruso sustained a lower back contusion and did not play in the second half of the contest.
Williams and Vucevic each made two 3-pointers to push Chicago to a 24-6 lead early in the first quarter. Dallas, however, made a push as Wood converted from beyond the arc and Dinwiddie drained a pair of 3-pointers to trim the Bulls’ lead to 40-30 at the end of the first quarter.
