Chicago @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2018 ) Dallas 103, Chicago 98

After blowing a late lead at home against one sub-.500 Eastern Conference team, the Dallas Mavericks will try to finish on top against another when they host the Chicago Bulls on Monday. The Mavericks opened their six-game homestand with a 12-point win over Brooklyn on Thursday and they led the Charlotte Hornets by 12 with under nine minutes remaining Saturday before falling 123-120 in overtime.

"We should have won it in the fourth quarter," star guard Luka Doncic told reporters of the collapse, which he put on himself. "I messed it up. I didn't make great decisions. Terrible decisions." Despite his self-criticism, Doncic recorded his NBA-leading 10th triple-double with 39 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He'll take aim at a Bulls team that lost the final three games of a four-game homestand with Saturday's 111-104 setback against Boston. Zach LaVine scored 35 points in the loss, his ninth game this season of 30 or more.

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Chicago, FS Southwest

ABOUT THE BULLS (13-23): Chicago has endured issues after halftime in many contests this season and it was outscored by nine points in the third quarter Saturday before putting up a modest rally in the fourth. "I didn’t like our energy in the third," coach Jim Boylen told reporters. "It was like we were waiting for them to miss, and I talked to our team about that in the timeouts. The ball stopped moving, bodies stopped moving." Wendell Carter Jr. recorded his third straight double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (22-13): Dallas played the last three games without starters Tim Hardaway Jr. (hamstring) and Kristaps Porzingis (knee). Maxi Kleber is one player taking advantage of the increased playing time, and he followed up a season-high 18-point performance in Thursday's win over Brooklyn by setting a career high with 24 points versus Charlotte. The third-year pro out of Germany is averaging 18.7 points while making 13-of-25 3-pointers in the three games without Hardaway and Porzingis.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bulls PF Lauri Markkanen left Saturday's loss with an ankle injury and is considered day-to-day.

2. Doncic's 10th triple-double set a franchise record for a single season and he has 18 for his career, three behind Jason Kidd's franchise mark.

3. Dallas took both meetings last season.

PREDICTION: Mavericks 111, Bulls 102