It’s a season where people are cheering for losses out of hope it will land them something better a few years down the road.  When there are games like the Mavs and Bulls played Tuesday night in Chicago, take a second and enjoy it.

 

On a night where three other teammates outscored him, it was Wesley Matthews who ended up being the player of the game within his heroics down the stretch.

 

It all started with a 1:55 left in the 4th quarter with the Mavs up 95-94 following a Deron Williams tough shot in the lane.  Dallas was on defense trying to get the necessary stop and as the shot clock was winding down, longtime Mavs nemesis Dwyane Wade briefly lost control of the ball and was beat to the floor to the ball by the always-hustling Matthews.  The officials merely ruled it a jump ball and Dallas was able to regain possession following a Chicago turnover after they won the tip.

 

After Bulls star Jimmy Butler made a big shot to put the Bulls up 98-86 with 22 seconds left, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle made the risky call to not use the final timeout and to try to catch the Bulls defense off guard.  The gamble paid off as Deron Williams was quickly able to penetrate into the paint and then kick out to the wide open Matthews who delivered the go-ahead three point shot with 11 seconds left.

Wesley Mathews nails a three with 11.7 seconds left to lift the Mavs over Bulls 99-98.

Matthews finished with 11 points. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/yLLCTAPATM

— Michael Lark (@Michael_Lark) January 18, 2017

 

It wasn’t nearly over as the Bulls had plenty of time to come up with a game winning shot.  It was obvious where they were going to go for that shot.

 

“Everyone in the arena knew what they were going to do.  I knew what they were going to do,” Matthews said postgame of his inevitable defensive showdown against Jimmy Butler with the game on the line.

 

Butler was never able to get free from Matthews and it almost looked as though the ball deflected off his knee accidentally and into the corner for Dwyane Wade.  Deron Williams was right there to tightly contend Wade’s tough shot from the corner that missed as time expired.  Mavs win… Mavs win.

 

Dallas has now won three straight games and were led in scoring by great efforts from Harrison Barnes with 20 points and the always improving Seth Curry with 18 of his own.  Curry started again for Dallas and the offense had another good start with him in the lineup.  

 

Dirk Nowitzki started at center for the Mavs again with Andrew Bogut again unavailable.  The Big German had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.

 

The win gave Dallas their first 3 game winning streak of the season and also puts them just 3 games back of the Portland Trailblazers for the 8th and final playoff spot in the shallow Western Conference.  With a record of 14-27, the Mavs are now at the halfway point in their regular season and will look to start the second half on a good note when they take their talents to South Beach to join the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena on Thursday night.