Mavs, Bulls bring play-in tourney aspirations into clash

Fresh off a memorable buzzer-beating win, Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls host the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night with both teams looking to improve their playoff positions.

Giddey sank a 46.5-footer to stun the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 119-117 on Thursday night. The shot capped an incredible comeback by Chicago, which was down by five with 12.1 seconds left.

"We were down, people were leaving," Giddey said in the locker room, clutching the game ball. "Credit to the guys for coming back. It was a special moment. As soon as it left my fingertips it felt good. It looked straight."

"Obviously, it was a remarkable shot," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

Giddey, 22, in his fourth season, is playing the best basketball of his career. Over his last 10 games, he has 220 points, 96 rebounds and 100 assists and is one of only eight players in NBA history to put up those numbers. The other seven are Michael Jordan, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James and Magic Johnson.

"We've shown over the last month to six weeks that we can beat anybody," Giddey said. "The way we play the game, I think it wears people down. We get up and down. We run. We put heat on them to get back. A lot of veteran teams don't particularly want to get back and play in transition."

The ninth-place Bulls (33-40), who have won nine of their last 11, sit two games behind seventh-place Atlanta. They have won nine of their last 11 games.

Coby White has scored 21 or more points in each of the last 14 games. Chicago expects point guard Lonzo Ball to return in the near future. Ball, who is doubtful for Saturday, has been out since Feb. 28 with a wrist injury.

Dallas welcomed back star Anthony Davis, who played Monday then sat on Tuesday, in Thursday night's nine-point road win over the Magic. The Mavericks bench outscored the starters 57-44 in the win. Jaden Hardy led Dallas with 22 points off the bench, including five threes.

"Hardy can play," said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. "He's a guy who can score in this league. Any time he starts going in the right direction he's had an ankle (injury) and been out for a couple of weeks and loses his rhythm. Once he's in a rhythm he's one of the best scorers in the league. Hopefully we can keep him healthy."

The Mavericks (36-38) are in a three-team battle for the last two play-in tournament spots in the West along with the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. Dallas entered Friday in 10th, a half-game up on Phoenix.

Dallas is 3-0 when Davis plays, but he's only played in three games since coming over from the Lakers in the Doncic trade. Davis was 5-for-19 shooting from the floor Thursday and had 15 points in 29 minutes.

"It's going to take time," Davis said after the game. "We don't have a lot of practice, so we have to figure things out in games. I don't need the ball to have an impact on a game. Every game is different, but it doesn't matter who is on the floor, we're going to fight and play defense and do what we have to do to win."

--Field Level Media