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Luol Deng was the primary reason the Chicago Bulls bested the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, and according to ESPN Chicago, his performance was predictable. In other words, Deng is a very consistent player. He scored 12 first-quarter points and finished with a game high 22 on 8-of-17 shooting with six rebounds.
The Bulls bested the Mavericks 101-78 in that game. Deng got a lot of help from the bench, which was a deviation from Monday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, in which the bench -- and Deng -- played poorly. Deng was held to just 10 points on Monday, only the second time all season he's scored less than 14.
Deng often plays major minutes, spending time with the starters and the bench. He's led the team in average minutes played every season since coach Tom Thibodeau arrived. He's averaging 40.3 minutes this season, and if he continues to be a consistent performer (and there's no reason that he won't), he'll likely remain right about that 40-minute mark.