With Luka Doncic out with a strained left calf, the Mavericks would need others to step up in his absence in Game 1 of the Mavs’ first-round series against the Utah Jazz.
Spencer Dinwiddie would get the start in place of Doncic, and he had post-season career highs with 24 points, four rebounds, and eight assists, and Jalen Brunson also had playoff career highs with 24 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. However, Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points in the second half, and the Jazz defeated the Mavericks 99-93 at American Airlines Center to take a 1-0 series lead.
Despite the loss, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd was happy with what he got from Dinwiddie, Brunson, and the team’s defense.
“They were great this afternoon,” Kidd said after the game of his starting backcourt. “Offensively, they found guys [and] got shots, but our defense gave us the chance to win this game. A lot of good, not just from those two, but from the team.”
Kidd believes the way Dallas played against the Jazz without Doncic shows that the Mavs have a good team.
“I thought overall, we slowed the game down and gave ourselves a chance to win without Luka [Dončić], and that really just shows the sign of a good team,” Kidd said.
Dinwiddie added: “Personally, we lost by six; I missed six free throws right, so we are right there. If anything, this should be encouraging for the fan base, in my opinion. We are disappointed in the locker room. This isn’t a game that we felt like- obviously, give them credit-they went out there and won the game.”
Dallas defended well as they held the Jazz below 100 points and created 15 turnovers. Utah was in the top 10 in points per game(113.6 PPG) in the regular season, so holding them to 99 points is a win for the Mavs.
However, Dallas has to get more from their offense, and that could be difficult without Doncic, who, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, may miss Game 2 on Monday, so guys will have to step up. Going down 2-0 would be devastating.
We’ll see how the Mavs respond in Game 2.
Notes:
Reggie Bullock tied a playoff career-best with 15 points and set a new playoff career-best with 6 rebounds.
Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points (4-7 FG) and 5 rebounds for the Mavericks.
Bojan Bogdanović had 26 points (11-20 FG), 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Today was his fourth career postseason game scoring 25+ points.
