🏀 Bulls vs Dallas Mavericks - Live Weblog

12 November 2018 live blog basketball bulls

Starting halfway through the first quarter, but I’m excited to see Luka Doncic play. I pegged him as the top draft pick and he’s been living up to it so far.

19:26 - Love the Bulls have finally started Arcidiacano over Payne. I’ve talked about it before but Arci has obviously earned it. He’s got five points and an assist through the first eight minutes.
19:29 - My least favorite shot, unless you’re Steph Curry, is a three early in the shot clock. It seems to be LaVine’s favorite though. Also, Robin Lopez just put up a three. Unfortunately, he missed it. I guess he’s trying to be like his brother who went 8/11 from three the other night.
19:32 - RoLo just air-balled a baseline hook shot. Not exactly a winning strategy…
19:36 - Shaquille Harrison getting into the rotation before Cam Payne says a lot.

Q1 Mavericks 25-20 Bulls

19:46 - Barra to Powell, for a ferocious alley-oop. LaVine’s weakside D (should surprise no one), but for this one I can’t blame him.
19:47 - I honestly think the Bulls are a little better than their record. Their kryptonite, besides bad defense from their stars, is foul trouble.
19:49 - It’s a Villanova reunion with Arci matched up against Brunson. They are both tough, undersized point guards. If there’s one thing Villanova guys have in common, it’s that they work hard.
19:52 - Mavericks have been moving the ball around well, and to their credit, even the guys off the bench have been knocking down shots. Kleber has knocked down a few shots from outside already.
19:52 - Carter Jr. picked up his third foul already, just halfway through the second quarter.
19:55 - It’s been a pretty boring game so far, if I’m being honest. Bulls can’t get anything going offensively, and the Mavs don’t look much better, but still have a 12 point lead over the Bulls.
19:59 - Hoiberg drew up a nice inbound play out of the time out. Executed well too, as LaVine dropped it off for Lopez to lay in.
20:01 - Why can’t they just let them play defense..? The foul calls so far this season have been ridiculous. Even when the Bulls benefit it’s annoying.
20:02 - RoLo with the little shake-n-bake hook for the and-1!
20:04 - Hutchison knocks down a three to cut the lead to one. If he can get a consistent shot down it can make him dangerous combined with his athleticism and ability to get to the basket.
20:07 - I feel like LaVine doesn’t think passing the ball is an important aspect of basketball.
20:09 - You can just tell Doncic is going to be a fantastic player. He’s 2/6 from the field right now, but he’s always in the right spot, and he passes the ball well. The shots will fall for him.

HALFTIME Mavericks 56-49 Bulls

20:11 - Harrison Barnes had a really nice half. He has the game high 12 points through the first half, but he scores quietly without having to be a huge focal point cough Lavine cough.
20:32 - Too much dribbling from Arci leads to him having to force a bad three, and then a fast break for Dallas, as the Bulls trailed behind allowing an alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan…
20:39 - Wendell Carter Jr. with the ferocious dunk as the weak side defender to send Doncic floater back across half court.
20:42 - Jabari Parker doing his best impression of Kyle “Slow-Mo” Anderson, taking it coast to coast for an and-1.
20:46 - Shaq Harrison just banked in an awful looking three. Doesn’t matter how it looks though. A three is a three.

Q3 Mavericks 78-75 Bulls

20:51 - Some beautiful ball movement into the post and a perfectly timed cut results in an easy bucket for Hutchison and an assist for RoLo.
20:58 - When Lavine doesn’t force things and picks his spots, he’s one of the best at getting to the rim and finishing. Too often he forces it when it’s not there or pulls up for a bad jumper.
21:02 - I wonder if there’s a stat for average passes per possession or number of possessions with one or less passes. Bulls probably have a very low average, and a lot of possessions with one or less passes.
21:06 - You can tell Wendell Carter Jr. is a little timid on the offensive glass with DeAndre Jordan down there.
21:07 - Just as I wrote that, Carter comes up with a loose ball under the basket and finished an and-1 over Jordan.
21:08 - I’ve been surprised with how good Dennis Smith Jr. has looked away from the basket. He’s been knocking down some nice jumpers tonight.
21:22 - Bulls have cut it down to four with 12 seconds left. Just 18 seconds ago I didn’t think they had a chance down eight. They still won’t win but at least they are showing some fight.

FINAL Mavericks 103-98 Bulls

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