Mavs Game Observations: Game 8 vs Bulls

Found the rhythm early, rode the flow

Photo by Sam Hodde / Getty Images

In the everyday grind of an 82-game season, this 119-99 win over the Bulls could easily go down as one of those “take care of business” games—a win the Mavericks were supposed to get. But maybe, just maybe, it’s a sign of something bigger.

Integrating a player like Klay Thompson—who’s used to a completely different offense—and building chemistry doesn’t happen overnight. The Mavericks have struggled to find their rhythm early in previous games, leading to slow starts and often forcing them to play catch-up the rest of the way.

Last night, it seemed they were onto something. They were getting stops, moving the ball well—Dallas posted a season highs in both assists (33) and assist rate (73 percent). Shot distribution was balanced, especially in the first half, with Dončić and Irving each taking eight attempts and Thompson taking seven, which didn’t go unnoticed by Jason Kidd:

I think just the flow, the rhythm of the game, this is one of our first that you can see the flow and the rhythm was on our side. We've been fighting to get that rhythm, and hopefully now we can build on this for Friday.

The Mavericks will likely be searching for the right flow with their three stars for much of the regular season, but if last night was a stepping stone, this entertaining game against the Bulls wasn’t just one of many.

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Today’s notes:

1. Bulls tried and got burned by the Pacers blueprint

2. Kyrie and Luka, er getting stops in waves?

3. Gafford's bounce-back game

4. Luka’ passing clinic (🎞️VIDEO)

5. Naji Marshall, Dwight Powell, and O-Max filling the size gap?

Bonus point: Kessler Edwards sighting

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1 - Bulls tried and got burned by the Pacers blueprint

In my preview I mentioned the Bulls’ transformation into the fastest team in the NBA. Like the Pacers in the previous game, the Bulls tried to run at every opportunity, avoiding playing against a set, top-five Mavericks’ half-court defense. At a blistering pace of 107.0 possessions per 48 minutes, this game edged out the Pacers matchup (105.5) as the fastest-paced game the Mavericks have played this season.

But Josh Giddey and Nikola Vučević are not Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, and without Zach LaVine, the Bulls were trying to play a game too fast for their own skillset to keep up. The young Bulls squad put up too many quick threes and, even more damaging, too many errant passes. Chicago posted a 22% turnover rate (a season-high for a Mavericks opponent), leading to 28 Mavericks points off turnovers—also a season-high for Dallas.

2-Kyrie and Luka, er getting stops in waves?

You're used to me writing about Luka and Kyrie throwing scoring punches at their opponents in waves. And they did just that last night—Kyrie scored 15 of his 17 points in the first ten minutes, setting the tone and laying the foundation for a strong start. Then Luka took over, scoring 22 points in 20 minutes from the time Kyrie took his first break at the end of the first quarter until the end of the third, by which point the game was practically over with Dallas up by 20.

But scoring outbursts from these two superstars are expected. What impressed last night was their defensive activity. Irving made his mark early, snagging two first-quarter steals that led to layups on the other end and adding another one later in the game. All of Dončić’s season-high four steals came in the third quarter, helping to close out the game early. (In between, Daniel Gafford set the tone with blocks—more on that in the next point.)

3-Gafford’s bounce-back game

After the last game, I was critical of Gafford's ability to navigate and anchor the defense against a 5-OUT, fast-paced team like the Pacers. But, as I've mentioned on different occasions, opponents that lack shooting and feature one or several weak links will struggle to score against the Mavericks' pack-line defensive scheme.