The Chicago Bulls (48-16) took a dominant lead in the first quarter and then fended off a furious comeback attempt from the Dallas Mavericks (36-29) to win 93-83 on Saturday night.
The Bulls silenced the Mavericks offense in the first quarter, holding them to a 21-8 score, but the Mavericks fought back to take a 56-55 lead with 3:00 remaining in the third quarter. PF Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks' comeback charge as he led the team with 17 points and 7 rebounds. SG Delonte West (13 pts), G Rodrique Beaubois (16 pts) and SG Vince Carter (15 pts) also all crossed into double digits for Dallas, but they could not score enough to outlast a healthy Bulls offense.
The following Bulls players all had double-digit games:
- PF Carlos Boozer (12 pts, 10 reb)
- SF Luol Deng (22 pts, 6 reb)
- PG Derrick Rose (11 pts, 8 pts)
- SG Richard Hamilton (19 pts)
- C Joakim Noah (8 pts, 14 reb, 5 offensive reb)
- SF Kyle Korver (11 pts)
The Bulls will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on division rival the Indiana Pacers.
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