Mavs-Bulls preview

Preseason Game #8
Chicago Bulls (3-2) at Dallas Mavericks (4-3)
American Airlines Center • 7:30 pm (CT)
HDNet • ESPN 103.3 FM • KFLC 1270 AM (Spanish)

Mavs probable starting lineup (preseason averages)
F Dirk Nowitzki (17.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg)
F Josh Howard (15.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
C Gana Diop (4.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
G Eddie Jones (4.6 ppg, 2 rpg)
G Devin Harris (9.7 ppg, 3.3 apg)

Injury report: Erick Dampier (right shoulder surgery) and Devean George (left foot stress reaction) are out. DJ Mbenga (right ACL surgery) is a game-time decision.
Last game: 103-97 win vs. New Orleans
Next game: at Cleveland, Oct. 31, 7 pm (TXA-21/ESPN)
All-time series (regular season): Bulls lead 27-26

Connections: Bulls swingman Adrian Griffin served two stints with Dallas, most recently as a part of the 2005-06 Western Conference championship team … Diop participated in Basketball Without Borders in Africa will Bulls forward Luol Deng … Jerry Stackhouse and Bulls center Ben Wallace were teammates for two seasons with Detroit … Trenton Hassell was drafted in the second round by Chicago in 2001 and spent two seasons there.

Notable: Harris, Hassell, Brandon Bass, JJ Barea, Nick Fazekas and Darvin Ham have appeared in the first seven preseason games … Howard is averaging 21 points in the last two games … Diop has 18 rebounds in two games since returning from the flu … Jones has started four of the last five games after missing two with a hamstring injury.

Scouting the Bulls: Four are averaging double figures, led by Andres Nocioni’s 12.0 ppg … Ben Wallace is shooting 58.8 percent from the field (10-17) and 44.4 percent at the line (4-9) … Allowing only 88.2 points per game.