Mavs Top Bulls
|The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls 114-105 Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks are 4-0 to start a season for the first time since 2004-05. The last time the Mavericks started 5-0 was the 2002-03 season when Dallas started 14-0. The Mavericks and the Boston Celtics are the last two undefeated teams in the league this season.
Dallas shot 41.7-percent from three tonight, the third consecutive game where the team shot at least 40-percent-or-better from behind the arc. They become the second team in NBA history to record 15-or-more 3-pointers in four consecutive games to start a season (Pelicans, 2019-20).
Grant Williams recorded 25 points (7-10 FG, 7-9 3FG, 4-6 FT), five rebounds, one assist and one steal, tying the most points he has scored in a single game (1/21/23). Williams made seven 3-pointers against the Chicago Bulls, which ties a career high.
Derrick Jones Jr. recorded 17 points (7-13 FG, 3-9 3FG), five rebounds and one assist.
Tim Hardaway Jr. recorded 24 points (8-15 FG, 7-13 3FG, 1-1 FT), three rebounds, two assists and one steal against the Chicago Bulls. This marks his longest streak of scoring 17-or-more points off of the bench in his career after doing so in four straight games to start this season.
Dereck Lively II is just the second Maverick rookie in franchise history to record six-or-more assists in a game as a center after Sean Rooks (1992-93). His 13 rebounds tonight mark the first time a Mavericks rookie has recorded 13-or-more rebounds in a game since Luka Dončić in 2018-19.
For the Bulls, Nikola Vucevic finished the game with 21 points (10-17 FG, 1-3 3FG) and a game-high 20 rebounds, alongside an assist and two steals. The game marked the third time in his Bulls career he has recorded 20-or-more rebounds. His 21 points and 20 rebounds marks the eight time in his career he has recorded a 20-20 game, the first time since 2019 and his first as a Bulls player.