The Chicago Bulls continue their long two-week road trip tonight in Dallas, having split the first two games of the Texas portion of their swing with a win in Houston and a loss in San Antonio.
And like the Dallas Mavericks, the Bulls are coming off a game in which they blew a big lead. The Bulls led on Wednesday night by as many as 17 points before suffering a 35-point swing and eventually losing to the Spurs. Meanwhile, the Mavs had a 10-point halftime lead on the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday and then got outscored 33-17 in the third quarter. Sound familiar? The Mavericks wound up losing 99-97, despite 29 points from Dirk Nowitzki, who is averaging 27.8 against the Bulls over the last six years.
It gets worse -- this may be the toughest road stop of the entire trip for the Bulls, who have lost five straight and 12 of 13 in Dallas. They got swept by the Mavs last year and have lost 21 of the last 24 meetings between the two clubs. The Bulls did get some good news today when they found out Carlos Boozer may be able to start participating in shootarounds during the road trip.
So, a win tonight would be a good sign that the Bulls can be among the elite in the Eastern Conference. Tonight's game, the second half of ESPN's Friday night doubleheader, begins at 8:30 p.m. CST and will also be televised locally in Chicago on WGN.