Luka Doncic’s much-needed change pushes Mavericks to win over Bulls

Through the first seven games of the season, slow starts had been the Dallas Mavericks’ kryptonite.

They could never seem to come out of the gates hot and a lot of that fell on Luka Doncic’s shoulders. Mavs fans have been used to Doncic being the king of the first quarter and setting the tone right away, but that hasn’t been the case this season.

Through the first seven games, Doncic averaged 8.1 points per game. game in the first quarter, but his field goal percentage was way down. He shot just 35.4 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from downtown in those seven games, but he made a big difference Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls.

Instead of calling his own number and trying to force shots early, Doncic let himself out to Kyrie Irving early in this game, and it did wonders for the team’s offense. Irving finished with 15 points in the first quarter while shooting 6-7 from the field, and his defense and aggressiveness helped set the tone for this game.

Irving was called up right away in this game and Doncic getting Irving involved early in this game helped set the stage for a great game for both of them. By delaying Irving early, it allowed Doncic to let his offensive game come to him and get his passing going. Doncic finished with eight points and five assists while shooting 2-2 from downtown, and the lob game was finally rolling for Dallas.

Doncic wasn’t settling for the same long twos he had been in the first two games, and taking over the game with Irving is something the Mavs should use more often. It doesn’t always have to be just Doncic who takes over the game in the first quarter, and Dallas brought in Irving to help take some of the weight off his shoulders.

Doncic doesn’t have to feel like he has to take over every game early to win, and the win over the Bulls was proof of that. Dallas also got Klay Thompson involved early in this game, and that’s something they’ve needed to do for a while. Thompson’s limited role offensively early in games certainly hurt Dallas, and his five points on five shots in the first quarter was a good step in the right direction to ensure Dallas consistently gets him involved right away.

Doncic and Irving’s dominant start helped the Mavs to a 119-99 victory over the Bulls to improve to 2-2 at home and 5-3 on the year, and their first-quarter performances helped set the perfect blueprint for how they have to handle the beginning of the game forward.

Doncic is at his best when he lets the game come to him and reacts to what the defense throws at him, and that’s how he had this dominant game. He played at his pace and took over the game with his play, and Chicago had no answers for him.

When he and Irving play at an elite level offensively, they are extremely difficult to stop. Irving hustled to the rim when he wanted to, and he’s still unstoppable when shooting threes after a layup.

Doncic finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists for the night while shooting 8-19 from the field, marking the first time all season that he took fewer than 20 shots in a game. Irving finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals on the night, and even though he cooled off after the first quarter, he was a huge reason Dallas was able to win.

This was the highest-scoring first quarter we’ve ever seen from Irving of his Mavs tenure, as he finished with 15 points in the first quarter, and Dallas needs more starts like this from him moving forward. He can take over the game at any time, and while it typically happens in the second half, his early takeover against the Bulls was a huge change for the better.