GAME NIGHT FROM DALLAS: Bulls (0-2) at Dallas ( 1-1)
TV: NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Adam Amin and Stacey King 7:30 PM RADIO: 670 THE SCORE: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Steve Kashul 7:15 pre.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine 31 ppg. Dallas: Doncic: 18ppg LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Portis: 12 per. Dallas: Jordan: 11 per. LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono: 7 per. Dallas: Barea 10 per
CCI PREVIEW: It's a quick turn around for the Bulls as they have a one and done road trip in Dallas. The Bulls competed and played with effort in their Saturday loss to Detroit. They'll need that same intensity tonight. The Bulls welcome back Kris Dunn who is expected to make his season debut tonight. His defense, tenacity and ability to get to the rim will be beneficial as the Bulls take on a Dallas ball club that is scoring and giving up a ton of points through its first two games. The Mavericks are coming off a Saturday 140-136 home court win over Minnesota in a game which featured a Mavs' franchise record setting 50—that's right—50 three point field goal attempts. Wowza ! Nine of the ten Dallas players who saw action attempted at least one three point field goal. The only player not attempting a shot behind the arc was center DeAndre Jordan whose career numbers are 1-11. Jordan makes up for it however with dunks and layups shooting a career 67% from the floor.
The Bulls get their first look at rookie sensation Luka Doncic who have hoops observers salivating with his uncanny floor skills. He will make each of his teammates better. Doncic will have his share of turnovers and inconsistent play, but trust me, this kid can flat out get it done. He became NBA ready by tearing up the European pro leagues before entering the NBA at 19 years young. The Mavs engineered a draft day deal swapping first round picks with Atlanta and sending a protected 2019 first-round pick to the Hawks. The pick is top-five protected the next two years, top-three protected in 2021 and '22 and unprotected the following year. The Hawks took Trey Young at five. As an NBA fan it will be fun watching these two young stars in Doncic and Young develop on a nightly basis.
Oh, by the way, Dennis Smith Jr. is a terrific player as well. These two stars ( Doncic, Smith Jr.) along with Harrison Barnes will be the building blocks for Dallas as the the team moves forward. Barnes is expected to make his season debut after missing the first two games with a hamstring issue. Dirk Nowitzki, now in his 21st season with the same franchise (NBA record) will miss the game as he is still recovering from ankle surgery in April.
CCI MATCHUP OF THE NIGHT: Dunn - Smith. Dunn will be in Smith's grill with his smothering, tough defense. Kris backs away from no one and will be extra pumped playing in his first game of the regular season. Smith is an up and coming star in the NBA and has freaky athleticism.
CCI BONUS INTEL: J.J. Barea has been a pest against the Bulls over the seasons. It doesn't matter whether he was in Minnesota threads or Dallas navy blue and white; he's a really solid bench player who has accepted his role and parlayed it in to a rock solid 13 year career. He's off to a terrific start averaging 10 points in his first two games but here's an amazing stat—21 assists—1 turnover. Are you kidding me? Since CCI is on the subject of A/TO ratio ; Ryan Arcidiacono is 15-1 after two games.
A CCI ZACH ATTACK: Zach LaVine is off to a tremendous start putting up big time numbers. 30 points-Philly, 33 more against Detroit becoming the third Bull in franchise history (MJ, Love) to open a season with b/b 30 point games. That's good, right? Ok, I thought so.
BULLS ROSTER MOVE: The Bulls have signed guard Shaquille Harrison. In accordance with team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. In a preceding move, the Bulls waived center Omer Asik.
Harrison (6-4, 190) was waived by the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 15, 2018. He played in four games (three starts) for the Suns during the 2018 preseason and averaged 7.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.25 steals and 1.25 blocks in 22.4 minutes per game. Harrison first signed with Phoenix on Feb. 21, 2018, and averaged 6.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.13 steals in 23 games last season, his first in the NBA.
In college, Harrison was a four-year letter-winner at the University of Tulsa from 2012-16. He is the only Tulsa player to start every game his team played during his career, averaging 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.83 steals over 133 games. Harrison left school ranked second all-time with 461 career assists, third all-time with 244 career steals, and second with his 133 starts. He was the only Tulsa player to ever compile at least 1,300 points, 400 assists and 200 steals, and the only player with 50 or more steals in all four seasons.
Asik came to the Bulls in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 1, 2018. He also played for Chicago in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 NBA seasons. He has career averages of 2.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 152 games for the Bulls. Asik has not played during the 2018-19 season due to illness.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Denver 100 Golden State 98. The Nuggets go to 3-0. Denver's Will Barton, a very good player, will be out indefinitely with a strained groin. Huge loss for Michael Malone's ball-club.
Atlanta 133 Cleveland 111. Hawks pick up their first win; Cavs 0-3. Trae Young with a 35 points 11 assists game - the best rookie line in eight years since Steph Curry. The Hawks scored 40, 2nd quarter points and added 41 in the 4th quarter.
Sacramento 131 OKC 120. The Thunder drop to 0-3 despite Russell Westbrook's season debut of 32-12-8.
LAC 115 Houston 112. The Rockets played without Chris Paul (suspension). The Clippers' bench came through led by a terrific young point guard in Shia Gilgeous Alexander.
The NBA handed down suspensions following the Rockets - Lakers fracas that took place Saturday night. Brandon Ingram gets four games, Rajon Rondo - three, Chris Paul - two.
Thanks for reading CCI. Always a pleasure. Reach out cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls