The Chicago Bulls play host to the Dallas Mavericks at United Center on Saturday.

The Mavericks (13-12) are playing some of their best basketball of the year, winning three of four coming into this matchup. Fans have been waiting to see that from this club all year, losing six of seven games before this mini-winning streak. It's certainly no fault of Luka Doncic though, who's flirting with triple-double averages while providing 30 points per game. What's allowed them to go on this streak is a hot shooting stretch from Tim Hardaway Jr. He's averaging just shy of 25 points per game in that winning streak, and having him do that changes everything for this club. It's fun to watch Luka do everything, but he needs some help to turn this good team into a true contender. With all that said, they missed their final five free throws in a one-point loss on Friday, and it'll be interesting to see how they respond after that.

The Bulls (10-14) have gotten off to a terrible start this season, losing three of their last four games. They actually had one of the best records in the NBA at this time last year, but things have changed. Losing Lonzo Ball to a knee issue is the one big issue because nothing has been the same since then. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic all continue to play well, but none of those guys are playing their best. That's not enough talent to compete when other clubs have three superstars, and it puts this franchise in quite a predicament. Do they want to keep riding these veterans, or do they want to blow everything up and start over?

These teams split their two meetings last season, with the road team winning both outings. With that said, Chicago has won four of its last five games in this series.