Pro Hoops on Saturday and we will see the Chicago Bulls travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Dallas Mavericks. The game is scheduled for a 2:05 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Fox Sports Southwest (Dallas). Currently the Odds for the game have Oklahoma City favored by 4 points while the total sits at 192.

Analysis: The Bulls are riding high after ending the Miami Heat’s winning streak and are fighting for position in the wide open middle of the East playoff picture. Chicago used its rugged defense to knock LeBron James and company off their game and will try to do the same to Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavericks. Chicago (39-31) stopped Miami's 27-game winning streak with a 101-97 home victory Wednesday as Luol Deng led the way with 28 points and Carlos Boozer added 21 and 17 rebounds, while also clinching a playoff berth in the process. What made the victory more astonishing is that the Bulls were not only missing Derrick Rose (knee) despite rumors he might play, but they also were without Joakim Noah (right foot), Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) and Richard Hamilton (lower back). Chicago has gotten used to being short-handed and that's likely to be the case again Saturday, though Noah and Belinelli are expected to be game-time decisions. Jimmy Butler has stepped up to average 18.5 points starting the last two games for Belinelli. To help make up for the absence of Noah, who has missed the past three games, Boozer has posted four straight double-doubles. Without Rose all season, the Bulls have yet to win more than three consecutive games, though they can change that today if they beat Dallas for a fifth straight time.

While Chicago tries to catch Brooklyn for the Eastern Conference's No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round, Dallas (35-37) would just be happy to make the postseason. The Mavericks are 10th in the West, 1 1/2 games out of the last playoff spot. Dallas had been running up some high point totals until running into the Pacers and will need to avoid getting beaten up on the glass in order to stick with the Bulls.  Rebounding was a big issue in the loss on Thursday, when Dallas let Indiana build up a 55-34 advantage on the glass in a 103-78 loss. It was a similar story the first time the Mavericks played Chicago, when they suffered a 101-78 road loss on Nov. 28. Dallas was outrebounded 44-30 in that contest. The Mavericks, whose veterans vowed to grow out their beards until the team reached .500, are closing out a six-game homestand on Saturday before a four-game road trip that will pit them against the Lakers on Tuesday. Prior to being shut down by the Pacers, Dallas had averaged 108.7 points during a three-game winning streak. Nowitzki has been the key to that offense and has averaged 22 points on 60 percent shooting in the last seven contests.

Pick: Not only did Chicago stop the Heats streak, but they also clinched a playoff spot and I feel they may be a bit flat for this one. The Mavericks need this game a whole lot more and I feel their desperation will help them take this game by at least 8 points. 

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