Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavs Must Buck Losing Trend vs. Chicago Bulls to Stay Undefeated

The Dallas Mavericks are undefeated three games into the season, but given their recent history against the Chicago Bulls, Monday night’s matchup poses a real threat to end the winning streak.

As uninspiring as the Dallas Mavericks were in clutch games last season, they appear to have improved immensely in that category this year. Although it’s only been three games, the Mavs are 3-0 heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Chicago Bulls, with all three wins being clutch wins.

If Dallas is going to make it a fourth consecutive win tonight, it will likely have a tough time doing so if recent history is any indicator. Over their last seven games against the Bulls, the Mavs have dropped six of them, including both matchups from last season where Dallas surrendered an average of 129.5 points.

The Bulls are 2-2 with losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons, but they’re coming off an impressive road win against the previously undefeated Indiana Pacers. Dallas has better defenders across the roster than it did last season, including former Bulls wing Derrick Jones Jr., but Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are two of the best offensive players in the league, so trying to shut them down will be a tall task.

Luka Doncic looks like the best player in the league through the first three games of the 2023-24 season / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs have Luka Doncic, though, who has scored 117 points through three games — the most to start a season since Steph Curry’s unanimous MVP season in 2015 — so naturally, they’ll have a good chance to win with him on the court. 

In eight career games against the Bulls, Doncic has averaged 22.8 points, 8.8 assists and 8.5 rebounds in 8 games while shooting just 41.4 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from deep. Doncic is currently shooting career-highs 55.6 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from deep through the first three games of this season, so perhaps he’ll be able to buck the trend of his subpar play (by his standards) against Chicago tonight.

We’ll find out soon if his co-star Kyrie Irving, who missed Monday’s win against the Memphis Grizzlies with a foot sprain, will be rejoining him for tonight’s matchup. In the meantime, here’s everything else you need to know about tonight’s game.

Mavericks vs. Bulls Injury Report: Mavericks: Kyrie Irving (QUESTIONABLE-foot). Bulls: Zach LaVine (PROBABLE-back), Lonzo Ball (OUT-knee)

RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (3-0), Chicago Bulls (2-2)

WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)

WHEN: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. CT

TV: Bally Sports Southwest, NBA League Pass | RADIO: 97.1 The Freak 

ODDS: Mavericks -5.0

MAVS STEP BACK:

NEXT UP: The Mavs hit the road for their toughest test yet with a matchup against Nikola Jokic and the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Friday night. The game will be on ESPN, and it could be a matchup if the last unbeaten teams in the league if things break right for Dallas and Denver on Wednesday.

FINAL WORD: “It’s wonderful,” Jones said of playing alongside Doncic. “It’s always wonderful to touch the ball. As a basketball player, you don’t want to just be running up and down the floor. I got to say he’s phenomenal … 100 per percent. So happy that I'm here playing with him and I don’t have to guard that anymore.”