Mavericks-Bulls Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Apr 21 2012 12:45AM

The final stretch of the regular season has not gone as smoothly as the Chicago Bulls had wanted.

Hoping to bounce back from their latest defeat without injured star Derrick Rose, the Bulls try to maintain their grasp on the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a third consecutive win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Chicago's hold on the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs got a little looser with an 83-72 loss at Miami on Thursday to split the four-game season series between the teams.

The Bulls (47-16) have a 1 1/2-game lead over the Heat in the East, one in the loss column. Chicago has three games remaining, while Miami has four.

"Got to win, got to win," said Bulls guard Richard Hamilton, who was held to six points on 1-of-6 shooting Thursday after scoring 22 in each of the previous two contests. "Just take one game at a time. We have Dallas coming up and we have to figure out a way to win that game."

The Bulls likely must try to get that done without Rose for a fourth consecutive game because of a foot injury. Chicago is 17-9 without him during his injury-plagued season, including 3-4 in April.

There is a possibility that Rose, averaging 22.5 points and 7.9 assists, could return for Wednesday's game at Indiana.

"You deal with it like you deal with it all year," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Third-string point guard John Lucas had a team-high 16 points Thursday as the Bulls shot 35.7 percent and were physically pushed around while scoring their fewest points of the season.

"This game will reveal certain things to us, things that need to be corrected, continue to strive for improvement, and we're not going to get caught up in (leads of) 1 1/2 games, 2 1/2 games or whatever," Thibodeau said. "Just keep doing the things we need to do to win, that's all we're focusing on.

"We get ready for Dallas."

Chicago beat the reigning NBA champs 82-77 at home in the most recent meeting Jan. 20, 2011. Playing without Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, the Bulls got 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds from Rose - the only Chicago player to score in double figures.

While Chicago looks to avoid dropping consecutive home games for the first time since a five-game skid March 1-19, 2010, the Mavericks (36-28) hope to avoid a third straight road defeat.

Dallas is coming off a pair of home victories after beating Golden State 104-94 on Friday. With two games remaining, the Mavericks are trying to hang on to the sixth seed in the West.

"We're playing as a cohesive unit out there," said guard Delonte West, who had 16 points against the Warriors.

Dirk Nowitzki averaged 30.0 points in the previous five games before scoring 16 on Friday in the Mavericks' home finale. He's averaged 30.4 points in his last five against the Bulls but finished with 19 on 6-of-16 shooting at Chicago last season.

Deng leads Bulls over Mavericks 93-83

By RICK GANO
Posted Apr 22 2012 1:02AM

CHICAGO (AP) Derrick Rose could feel some pain in the area of his right ankle and foot, the site of his most recent injury during a season in which he has missed 26 games.

It was OK, though. All worth it. The fans were cheering for him, he was back on the court and the Chicago Bulls got another victory that moved them closer to clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

"It was throbbing a little, but the great thing about it is we got the win and we get a couple of days off to get treatment and I'm going to stay off my feet and hopefully it's going to get better," Rose said after the Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 on Saturday night.

Rose's return after missing three straight games wasn't spectacular, but it was still a 32-minute effort that saw him get 11 points and eight assists.

"I think he played a very controlled type game. He was taking care of the ball, running the offense and just trying to get a feel for being out there again," Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said

The Bulls, able to use their starting five for just the 14th time this season, got 22 points from Luol Deng and 19 from Richard Hamilton in beating a Mavericks team that had already clinched a playoff berth two nights earlier, played at home Friday night and rested guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry.

The victory by the Bulls (48-16) gave them a 2 1-2 game lead over Miami for the top seed in the East after the Heat lost at home to Washington. Chicago has two regular-season games left, against Indiana and Cleveland.

"We still have to win out," said Rose, who acknowledged he didn't have his usual confidence driving the lane and was content to pass the ball to Deng and Hamilton.

"We're not worried about other teams, just what we are trying to do here and we're trying to win every game," he said.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 points and Rodrigue Beaubois, starting in place of Kidd, added 16 - 10 in the final quarter - despite playing the second half with a dislocated finger. After leaving with about 7 1-2 minutes to go in the first half after hurting his finger guarding Ronnie Brewer, he returned minutes later to the game with his fingers taped.

"Once they put the fingers together I said it's good enough to play," Beaubois said.

"He held up to the physicality of it and came back to play. ... I thought it was great how he got a dislocated finger popped back in and then came back," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

Deng's 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer capped an 11-0 run and gave the Bulls a 66-56 lead. But Dallas rallied as Vince Carter had nine points and Brandan Wright's follow-up basket cut the lead to 75-72 with just under 6 minutes remaining.

Joakim Noah and Rose scored for the Bulls before Kyle Korver hit his third 3-pointer of the game to restore the lead to nine points. Deng then hit a 3-pointer from the corner with just under 2 minutes left and Chicago had a 90-79 lead.

"They did a good job of finding the shooters. They have a bunch of guys that can get the ball off quickly," Carlisle said. "Deng and Korver hit big ones for them."

Nowitzki's eight second-quarter points helped the Mavs close a 13-point deficit down to six by halftime.

Hamilton had 10 points and Carlos Boozer eight as Chicago opened a 21-8 lead after one quarter - the Mavericks' lowest scoring quarter of the season.

Notes: The Bulls are 17-9 in the 26 games Rose has missed. ... Fans cheered loudly when the public address announcer congratulated White Sox pitcher Phil Humber on his perfect game in Seattle on Saturday. The final pitch was shown on the video screen above the court.

Notebook: Bulls 93, Mavericks 83

Posted Saturday April 21, 2012 11:40PM

By Kent McDill, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Celebrating the return of guard Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 Saturday at the United Center. The Mavericks played without guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, who were given rest days. Rose had missed three consecutive games with right ankle/right foot pain, but scored 11 points with eight assists and only one turnover in 31 plus minutes Saturday. Luol Deng had 22 points, Rip Hamilton had 19 and Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points to lead the Mavericks.

THE FACT II: With the win and Miami's loss to Washington, the Bulls reduced their magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed to one, meaning either a Bulls win in the final two games or a Miami loss in their final three gives the Bulls the top spot. Meanwhile, the Mavericks dropped percentage points behind Denver for the sixth spot in the Western Conference. The Nuggets (35-28) have three games remaining and the Mavericks (36-29) have just one, against Atlanta Thursday.

THE STAT: With Vince Carter putting in 15 points, the Dallas bench outscored the Bulls bench 31-21.

THE STAT II: The visiting Mavericks got 19 free throw attempts (hitting 17) while the host Bulls got only 12 attempts (hitting eight).

QUOTABLE: "We're not worried about no other team. We're just trying to win every game."
-- Bulls guard Rose, when asked about the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

QUOTABLE II: "They are tough team to get shots against; they are a tough team to put the ball in the basket against."
-- Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle, taking about the Bulls' defense in the first quarter, when the Mavericks scored just eight points.

TURNING POINT: The Bulls scored the last 11 points of the third quarter to go ahead 66-56. The Mavericks cut the difference to two points, 78-76, with 4:30 left but the Bulls scored the next seven points to build the lead back up to nine.

INJURY UPDATE: With Rose and Deng playing, the Bulls are as healthy as they have been all season, although neither of those two All-Stars are 100 percent. Dallas guard Rodrique Beaubois suffered a dislocated left ring finger injury in the second quarter but reentered the game and scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.

GOOD MOVE: By letting Rose play, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau got to use his projected lineup of Rose, Deng, Boozer, Joakim Noah and Hamilton for only the 14th time this season. The team is 12-2 when that group starts.

HOT: Boozer has scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games. During that stretch, he has averaged 13.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and has recorded six double-doubles in that stretch.

NOTABLE I: The Bulls got eight offensive rebounds, five from Noah and three from Taj Gibson... the Wizards became the only team to beat both the Bulls and Miami as the visiting team this season.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, @ Indiana Wednesday, vs. Cleveland Thursday. For the Mavericks, @ Atlanta Thursday.

• Mavericks: Kidd, Odom
• Bulls: Scalabrine

• Mavericks: --
• Bulls: Hamilton

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #20 Leroy Richardson, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 22945
• Duration: 2:19