Game Recap: Late-game rally falls short for Bulls

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Sunday, March 30 2025

CHICAGO - Perhaps Zach Lavine was the weak link for the Chicago Bulls (33-41) all along. No disrespect to him and his game, but for whatever reason, the team has always played better when he was off the court. You're starting to see that now and have been seeing that since his trade to Sacramento as the Bulls are not only a different looking team, but one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.

Already with a season-long-four-game winning streak, the Bulls were looking to make it five straight as they welcomed the Dallas Mavericks (36-38) to the United Center on Saturday. As has been the case so many times this season, the Bulls had moments of terrific play mixed with moments of terrible play. They also found themselves playing from behind far more than they would've liked as, once again, this team found themselves down double digits late.

As has been the case all season, especially after watching what happened on Thursday night, no lead is safe against this Bulls team, and they have proven time and again that they will never quit, no matter the deficit. Trailing by nine with less than a minute to go, Chicago went on another late-game surge and pulled within three after a Coby White layup. Following a missed shot from Spencer Dinwiddie, Nikola Vucevic had a chance to make things a one-point game from the line only to come away with one free three.

That proved costly as Klay Thompson would knock down a pair of free throws to put the Mavericks up 120-116 before holding off the Bulls 120-119. Vucevic did knock down a last-second three, but with a four-point deficit, the only shot Chicago had to tie the game was for a foul to be called, which never came.

One of the many reasons the Bulls' play improved across the board is the overall balanced attack from everyone on offense. That includes the continued growth of rookie Matas Buzelis, who has emerged as one of the more promising stars in the league. Buzelis has been inconsistent when it comes to his shooting, but when you shoot the ball as well as he did on Saturday, you can see the upside.

Buzelis led all scorers with 28 points and added nine boards while knocking down five of his seven triples. Chicago connected for 14 triples in the game, as three-point shooting has been a massive factor in their success. Buzelis wasn't alone in having a big night, as two other players picked up at least 20 points.

White was one of those guys as he did his best to will the Bulls back late and finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Vucevic also had one of his better games since returning from a calf injury and added 25 points and nine boards. Those were the only starters to land in double figures as Kevin Huerter and Josh Giddey finished with eight points. Giddey was the one that hurt the most as he was coming off of his best moment as a professional on Thursday, only to have a rough night tonight.

He did have eight rebounds and four assists as those aspects of his game still showed up. With two of their starters struggling to pick up points, the Bulls needed their bench to step up despite going with a tighter rotation. Zach Collins did his part with 13 points and seven boards, as did Dalen Terry and his eight points, as they accounted for 21 of the 25 bench points. Julian Phillips had the remaining four.

Speaking of teams making noise at the deadline, the Mavericks were the stories of the deadline and for all the wrong reasons as they traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis among others. Davis then went down with an injury in his first game with Dallas who later saw Kyrie Irving go down with a season ending torn ACL.

All that put together took what was a promising season and has flipped it into a situation where it looks to be play-in tournament at best. For that to happen, Dallas will need everyone to step up when called upon and getting Davis back for the stretch run will help as he finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. He will only get better the rest of the way, but if Thompson can do what he did down the stretch, he will add an element to the offense they have been missing.

No one will argue that Thompson has had a down season, but anytime you get this close to the playoffs, you have to wonder if playoff Thompson will come into play. With a team-high 20 points in the victory, Thompson has, at the very least, proven he still has it in him to be counted on in big spots over the final two weeks.

Dallas also benefitted from PJ Washington's 19 points, while Dinwiddie (14) and Kai Jones (15) gave the Mavericks five starters in double figures. Even with all five of their starters landing in double figures, their overall production wasn't nearly the same as the Bulls' big-three, so they were going to need more production from their bench.

Look no farther than Naji Marshall (14) and Brandon Williams (12), who combined for 26 of the team's 34 bench points in the win. The Bulls' next matchup will be against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday before seeing things lighten up a bit down the stretch.