Short-handed Mavs eliminated with loss to Bulls

Coby White and Nikola Vucevic recorded double-doubles to energy the short-handed Chicago Bulls previous the host Dallas Mavericks 115-112 on Friday.

The outcome ended the Mavericks’ hopes of reaching the Western Conference play-in match.

Dallas (38-43) got here into the night trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-42) by one recreation for the West’s closing play-in spot but performed with out Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Christian Wood, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber. Luka Doncic was restricted to simply 12:35 of motion, all within the first half, throughout which he scored 13 factors regardless of capturing 0-of-5 from 3-point vary.

Chicago (39-42), which had already clinched an Eastern Conference play-in spot, performed with out main scorers DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine in addition to Patrick Beverley. White completed with 24 factors, a game-high 11 assists and 7 rebounds to select up the slack within the come-from-behind win.

Vucevic additionally did his half, capturing 7 of 11 from the ground en route to twenty factors, and he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The double-double marked his 51st of the season, behind solely Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis and two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic of Denver.

The Bulls fell behind late within the first quarter and performed from a deficit all through the second and third durations. After trailing by as many as 15 factors, Chicago didn’t retake the lead till 5:29 remained in regulation, when Patrick Williams banked in two of his 23 factors for a 100-98 edge.

Williams’ bucket contributed to a 14-0 stretch for Chicago. The Bulls pulled forward for good on the energy of that burst, however not with out resistance from the Mavericks.

Doncic matched McKinley Wright IV and Markieff Morris for a crew scoring excessive. Wright scored the final two of his factors with 39.2 seconds to go, a part of a 10-3 Mavericks run that lower Chicago’s result in one.

Terry Taylor, who scored eight factors on 4-of-4 capturing off the Chicago bench, gave the Bulls a three-point lead with a dunk on the following possession.

Wright missed two 3-point makes an attempt within the closing seconds.

–Field Level Media/Reuters