Second half stumble costs Mavericks against Bulls

Despite a recent run of success, the Mavericks can’t seem to get out of their own way in making a push up to eighth place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Friday’s entry into that debacle was surrendering an eight-point third quarter lead in a 127-124 loss to the Chicago Bulls at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks’ flat fourth quarter was certainly inconsistent with Dallas play of late, but the Mavs made it interesting in the final :40 despite most of the faithful having filed out of the arena.

But the rally went for not as Yogi Ferrell’s 3-point try at the buzzer was off the mark.

Dallas came in to the game having won four of its last five games, including a 125-122 loss to defending NBA champion Golden State Wednesday night.

It was a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter that ultimately damaged the Mavericks. Chicago’s Justin Holiday knocking down a 3-pointer to make it 105-100 with 4:08 to go.

Over the next couple of minutes, Chicago increased that to a 16-4 run before Dallas made a furious late rally.

Still, as it has been over the last few games, most of the success can be easily charted by the emergence and improved play of forward Harrison Barnes and rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr.

Dallas wasted a strong performance from Wes Matthews, who scored a team-high 24 points to go with Barnes’ 23 and Dirk Nowitzki’s 19.

Smith had 15 points to go with 7 assists.

It was the second straight 20-point performance for Mathews and only his fourth of the season while Barnes has averaged 20 points in the last 10 games.

But the last six games, save for the fourth quarter Friday, have also featured an uptick in defensive production which always pleases head coach Rick Carlisle.

“There are some teams competing very well that are not in the playoff hunt,” he said before the game. “But as we looked through this two weeks ago when Phoenix came in, the Suns are playing well, they don’t have a playoff record and we laid an egg against those guys.”

Dallas was able to duplicate the birthing against the Bulls.

Chicago, 10-5 in its last 15 games but coming in with a three-game losing streak, held a lead as big as 13 in the first quarter before the Mavs settled in.

Dallas had an 88-80 lead going into the fourth quarter, quickly surrendered a 10-0 Bulls run and finally ran out of scratch in the end.

While finding mid-season form is often a cliché to shadow a bad team, the Mavericks might have actually found personnel rotations that can sustain a run to the post-season.

Add the fact that a tough early schedule is now turning in their favor and the squandering of games like Friday against the Bulls could be a season killer.

While Barnes and Smith are fueling the big offensive push from the starting roles, perhaps Dallas’ biggest asset is the resurgence of its bench production.

Forward Dwight Powell is starting to find a legitimate groove and working well in the two-man game with J.J. Berea.

Powell had 13 points after scoring 16 against the Warriors on Wednesday.

Moreover, he held Bulls leading scorer Nikola Mirotic to four points in the first half and 11 for the game.

The Bulls were able to showcase first-round draft choice Lauri Markkanen, who scored 16 points and drilled three three-pointers as a complimentary performance to guard Kris Dunn.

Dunn had a career high 32 points and Holiday finished with 23.

Markkanen, who was on the Mavericks’ draft radar last summer, was selected seventh overall by Minnesota, then dealt that night to the Bulls for swingman Jimmy Butler.

Friday featured a couple of rookie-on-rookie moments with Smith taking it to the rim with his left hand and having Markkanen use his 7-foot frame to make a block in the second quarter.

The Mavericks play the Knicks on Sunday at the AAC.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Second half stumble costs Mavericks against Bulls."