Mavericks Unable to Stop Derrick Rose as Chicago Beats Dallas, 82-77

After defeating the two-time defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers to snap their longest skid of the season, the Dallas Mavericks were hoping to maintain that momentum against the Chicago Bulls.  The Bulls have a great defensive mindset, but it appeared that the Mavericks just didn't have enough juice left in the tank from their match-up the night before against the Lakers.

The game was up for grabs as the Bulls were short-handed with their own injuries as they were without Carlose Boozer and Joakim Noah.  Rebounding, Turnovers and Derrick Rose led to the Mavericks losing to the Bulls, 82-77.  Rose scored 26 points on 9-28 shooting from the field but his pull-up jumper with 55 seconds to go have the Bulls an 80-77 lead and the Mavericks could not respond.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points to lead Dallas, while Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson added 12 points apiece. 

Momentum has been an issue for the Mavericks and it seems their overall strength has now departed.  With the loss, the Mavericks suffered their 5th consecutive road loss (they started the season 11-1 on the road). Coming in to tonight's game, the Mavericks had won 9 of the last 11 previous meetings in Chicago.  The Mavericks had also won 21 of the last 25 meetings against the Bulls.  Dallas is now 10-8 versus Eastern Conference teams this year (22-8 in '09-10).  Also, Chicago sweeps season series for first time since '96-97.

It has be a tough pill to swallow to see a game where you only allow 82 points, 37% shooting from the field and you hold a team to zero fast-break points only to find out that you lost that game.

Did THAT Just Happen?!

-  There are defensive-centered games and then there are games like tonight.  The Bulls had a halftime lead of 44-35.  Dallas shot 29.7 percent (11-of-37) from the floor and they struggled even more from behind the three-point arc (27.3 percent, 3-of-11).  The Mavericks went just over five-and-a-half minutes stretching over the first and second quarter without a made field goal.  The Mavericks highest scoring quarter was 25 points (third quarter) and their lowest was 15 (second quarter).

- After Rose's jumper to give the Bulls an 80-77 lead the Mavericks took a timeout.  With Rick Carlisle as the coach, the Mavericks have been rather efficient as a team coming out of a timeout that was not the case against the Bulls.  The Mavericks looked disjointed during their possession as Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki fumbled passes that eventually led to a timely turnover. 

- Jason Kidd did not have the scoring output that he had the previous night against the Lakers but his defensive effort on Derrick Rose was surprising.  Kidd knew that Rose would be able zoom past him so he played off of Rose and anticipated his moves pretty well.  The veteran guard had an incredible play early in the game where Rose was running on the break for a lay-up and Kidd reached out for the ball and grabbed it and stopped Rose cold in his tracks. 

- Sasha Pavlović had his least effective game with the Mavericks when given serious minutes.  Other than his three free throws, he was ineffective on both sides of the floor.  The life of a 10-day contract man has to be a tough battle and a night like tonight has to be difficult to deal with.  Hopefully, he will be able to bounce back in the next games because he will have to if he wants to keep his job. 

- The TNT broadcasting staff had a nice but awkward segment as they showed the chain of events that led to Alexis Ajinca being told to head back to the hotel due to the fact he is likely to be traded to Toronto as the Mavericks acquire Peja Stojakovic.  TNT showed that Alexis Ajinca arrived to the arena early and was working out before Coach Rick Carlisle got Ajinca's attention and brought him to the side of the court and gave him the tough news.

 

Box Score Revelations

- Dirk Nowitzki's shooting woes continued as he shot 6-16 from the field to get his 19 points.  In the previous game against the Bulls in November, he tallied a game-high 36 points (15-26 from the field, 3-5 from long range) and added eight rebounds.

- Despite Derrick Rose's timely shots, the man shot 9-28 from the field.  26 points on 28 points does not strike me as a good night at the office.  He hit the shot when it mattered most so give him credit.  Rose was the only Bulls player to score in double figure, Kurt Thomas and Kyle Korver had 9 points each.

- The Mavericks shot 35.6 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three-point range. It's the eighth time in the last 13 games Dallas failed to score at least 90 points and the third time in that span it couldn't reach 80.

- Tyson Chandler appears to be back as he recorded his 8th double-double of the season, 12 points and 12 rebounds.  The Mavericks fell to 6-2 when Chandler records a double-double.

- At one point in the second half, Dallas was -4 in the rebounding and offensive rebounding department, they finished -10 in the rebounding game and -8 on the offensive glass.  The final numbers gave the Bulls the advantage at 51-41.  That is better than the 59-34 advantage the Bulls had in the last game in November.

- Ian Mahinmi had the dubious DNP-CD (Did Not Play Coaches Decision).  In a game where rebounding is an issue, Mahinmi should get some minutes on the court to help give the team a spark. 

- The Mavericks had 14 turnovers, slightly above their average (13.5).  The timing of the turnovers really made the difference though.  They had instances to swing the momentum in their favor but they were unable to take advantage  of the situation with sloppy possessions. 

 

Tweetings From the Mavs Universe

"Turnover?!?!? r u freakin kidding me. not the time for those!!"

@ashleyxjae

 

"Can someone get Tom Thibodeaux a lozenge?"

@rhylan_rowe

 

"Tyson Chandler stays in front of Derrick Rose on a crossover and comes up with a block. Remember when Damp used to do that?"

@espn_macmahon

 

"Defensive rebounding and untimely turnovers have really hurt this thing tonight."

@MFollowill

 

 

The Mavericks will look to avoid their 6th straight road loss and get back on their winning ways on Saturday night as they travel to play the New Jersey Nets.  The game will tip-off at 6PM CST. 

 

Twitter?  I don't even know her!  Oh......

You can stay connected with all things Dallas Mavericks by following Bryan Gutierrez on twitter @BallinWithBryan