04-05-2021, 10:34 PM
KP-LESS MAVS STUN JAZZ AT AAC
The Mavericks stepped up big against the team with the NBA’s best record, snapping Utah’s 9-game winning streak and extending their own string of consecutive victories to five.
NOTABLE ITEMS
PERSONNEL. Rick revealed before the game that KP would be out, citing a sprained wrist that has been bothering him for weeks. There is no set timetable for his returm. Maxi and J Rich returned to action. WCS-Redick-Terry were still out. Melli took KP’s place in the starting lineup, forcing the Jazz to guard the perimeter at every position.
GAME FLOW. Both teams went to-to-toe in the first quarter, and the Mavs held a 27-25 edge through twelve minutes. Neither side recorded a free-throw attempt in the period. In the second, the Mavericks held Utah to a humiliating 17 points, and a putrid 1-13 performance from long range. Josh Richardson stepped up with an 11-point frame, and he and Brunson combined for 18 of the home team’s total 23 points. At the buzzer, Dallas had a 50-42 advantage.
The Mavs left the Jazz in the dust with a 37-27 third quarter. Luka and THJ combined for 28 points, hitting 7 of their total 9 attempts from deep. There was a scuffle toward the end of the quarter, involving several players, including Luka, Doe-Doe and Gobert, and somehow ending with DFS receiving the only tech. Dallas had an 87-69 cushion after three. Utah chiseled their deficit by 10 in the fourth, but Coach Snyder instructed his squad to refrain from intentionally fouling in the last minute, not wanting to drag out their misery, and your boys held on for a decisive win.
STATISTICS. Look no further than two stats. The Jazz had a 22-8 advantage in FTAs, but the Mavs hit a scintillating 23-49 threes, which will put you in the win column most of the time. Five Mavs hit multiple triples — Luka 6, DFS and Josh 5, Brunson 4, and THJ 3. In a strange point distribution, 5 Mavs were in double figures, while neither Maxi nor Melli scored at all. The closing unit featured Luka and sharpshooters Brunson, THJ, DFS, and Maxi.
DONCIC. Luka had a sparkling 31/9/8 line, and went 6-11 from deep. Luka gets up for games against the best teams, and he was locked and loaded for the duration. He did not disdain the dirty work, digging his missed shot off the floor for a second-chance shot early in the third. With the young superstar at the helm, KP was barely missed.
DFS. Doe-Doe had a stellar outing, stepping up to the plate with 23 big points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to go along with his tenacious defense on Mitchell and Gobert. Part of Utah's game plan was evidently to dare him to shoot, and he made them pay big time He confessed that after missing a couple of threes and hesitating to take another, he got “yelled at” for not shooting, so was encouraged enough to return to full bombs-away mode. He also had a great drive from the corner against Gobert in the second, and he posterized the Utah star in the third. Outstanding!
KLEBER. Maxi had an underwhelming line (0/5/2), taking only 2 shots, but was relentless against the Utah front court. Not every contribution shows up in the box score. His defense was critical to the win.
MELLI. Nicolo had 7 boards, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and a steal. He played a full 32 minutes, and won the belt for Defensive Player of the Game. He showed tremendous hustle on the defensive end and on the glass, and no one could fault him for lack of energy. Since it’s a win, I guess we’ll overlook the 0-7 shooting performance. His unnecessary foul of a three-point shooter went largely unpunished, when Bogdanovich missed both the shot and two of his three freebies. He was subbed out for Hardaway with 3:45 left in the game. The Mavs remain undefeated since the Melli Trade.
BRUNSON. Jalen continued his excellent run of play with 20 points on 8-15 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench. Jalen’s decision-making has really come along this season, and Rick keeps trusting him to be on the floor at the ends of games. Such an intelligent player!
RICHARDSON. Josh had one of his best outings as a Mav, putting up 17 efficient points (6-9), and going 5-5 from range. Just as importantly, he frustrated the Jazz with his persistent defense, particularly on Mitchell. If J Rich can get to the point where he consistently completes his threes, he’ll be at the next level.
HARDAWAY. Timmy had 30 productive minutes off the bench, scoring from anywhere and everywhere, putting up 16 points and 5 assists, and ratcheting up the excitement meter with back-to-back transition buckets in the first, along with a three over Derrick Favors, a drive resulting in and-one, and a buzzer-beating three in the third.
POWELL. Dwight put in a 14-minute shift, and had a couple of slams.
JAZZ. Utah played with intensity, but didn’t really look like the league’s best team. They had a very bad performance from deep (12-44) and missed 5 of their 22 FTAs. Mike Conley was their standout player, leading the team in scoring with 28 points, and accounting for 6 of the team's 12 made threes. Bogdanovic, Mitchell, and Clarkson had 16 apiece, and Gobert added 14 points and 15 boards. Donovan's points were attained via embarrassing 6-23 shooting, and Rudy was limited to 6 shots. O'Neale and Mitchell were both 0-8 from long range, and Clarkson was 2-9. Yikes!
OBSERVATIONS
This was a high-intensity game with a playoff atmosphere. The Mavericks were underdogs going in, but held their own with cohesive defense and stylish offense. It was raining threes on the Mavs’ end of the court, and the team rarely comes up short shooting 47% beyond the arc. Dallas may have gotten a little lucky with the Jazz missing some open shots, but that doesn't take away from their fine accomplishment.
This was an important victory for the home team, and constituted a statement that they can beat anybody when they’re on their game.
The Mavericks face the bottom-feeding Rockets in Houston on Wednesday. Taking care of business should be the order of the day.
Fantastic!
The Mavericks stepped up big against the team with the NBA’s best record, snapping Utah’s 9-game winning streak and extending their own string of consecutive victories to five.
NOTABLE ITEMS
PERSONNEL. Rick revealed before the game that KP would be out, citing a sprained wrist that has been bothering him for weeks. There is no set timetable for his returm. Maxi and J Rich returned to action. WCS-Redick-Terry were still out. Melli took KP’s place in the starting lineup, forcing the Jazz to guard the perimeter at every position.
GAME FLOW. Both teams went to-to-toe in the first quarter, and the Mavs held a 27-25 edge through twelve minutes. Neither side recorded a free-throw attempt in the period. In the second, the Mavericks held Utah to a humiliating 17 points, and a putrid 1-13 performance from long range. Josh Richardson stepped up with an 11-point frame, and he and Brunson combined for 18 of the home team’s total 23 points. At the buzzer, Dallas had a 50-42 advantage.
The Mavs left the Jazz in the dust with a 37-27 third quarter. Luka and THJ combined for 28 points, hitting 7 of their total 9 attempts from deep. There was a scuffle toward the end of the quarter, involving several players, including Luka, Doe-Doe and Gobert, and somehow ending with DFS receiving the only tech. Dallas had an 87-69 cushion after three. Utah chiseled their deficit by 10 in the fourth, but Coach Snyder instructed his squad to refrain from intentionally fouling in the last minute, not wanting to drag out their misery, and your boys held on for a decisive win.
STATISTICS. Look no further than two stats. The Jazz had a 22-8 advantage in FTAs, but the Mavs hit a scintillating 23-49 threes, which will put you in the win column most of the time. Five Mavs hit multiple triples — Luka 6, DFS and Josh 5, Brunson 4, and THJ 3. In a strange point distribution, 5 Mavs were in double figures, while neither Maxi nor Melli scored at all. The closing unit featured Luka and sharpshooters Brunson, THJ, DFS, and Maxi.
DONCIC. Luka had a sparkling 31/9/8 line, and went 6-11 from deep. Luka gets up for games against the best teams, and he was locked and loaded for the duration. He did not disdain the dirty work, digging his missed shot off the floor for a second-chance shot early in the third. With the young superstar at the helm, KP was barely missed.
DFS. Doe-Doe had a stellar outing, stepping up to the plate with 23 big points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to go along with his tenacious defense on Mitchell and Gobert. Part of Utah's game plan was evidently to dare him to shoot, and he made them pay big time He confessed that after missing a couple of threes and hesitating to take another, he got “yelled at” for not shooting, so was encouraged enough to return to full bombs-away mode. He also had a great drive from the corner against Gobert in the second, and he posterized the Utah star in the third. Outstanding!
KLEBER. Maxi had an underwhelming line (0/5/2), taking only 2 shots, but was relentless against the Utah front court. Not every contribution shows up in the box score. His defense was critical to the win.
MELLI. Nicolo had 7 boards, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and a steal. He played a full 32 minutes, and won the belt for Defensive Player of the Game. He showed tremendous hustle on the defensive end and on the glass, and no one could fault him for lack of energy. Since it’s a win, I guess we’ll overlook the 0-7 shooting performance. His unnecessary foul of a three-point shooter went largely unpunished, when Bogdanovich missed both the shot and two of his three freebies. He was subbed out for Hardaway with 3:45 left in the game. The Mavs remain undefeated since the Melli Trade.
BRUNSON. Jalen continued his excellent run of play with 20 points on 8-15 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench. Jalen’s decision-making has really come along this season, and Rick keeps trusting him to be on the floor at the ends of games. Such an intelligent player!
RICHARDSON. Josh had one of his best outings as a Mav, putting up 17 efficient points (6-9), and going 5-5 from range. Just as importantly, he frustrated the Jazz with his persistent defense, particularly on Mitchell. If J Rich can get to the point where he consistently completes his threes, he’ll be at the next level.
HARDAWAY. Timmy had 30 productive minutes off the bench, scoring from anywhere and everywhere, putting up 16 points and 5 assists, and ratcheting up the excitement meter with back-to-back transition buckets in the first, along with a three over Derrick Favors, a drive resulting in and-one, and a buzzer-beating three in the third.
POWELL. Dwight put in a 14-minute shift, and had a couple of slams.
JAZZ. Utah played with intensity, but didn’t really look like the league’s best team. They had a very bad performance from deep (12-44) and missed 5 of their 22 FTAs. Mike Conley was their standout player, leading the team in scoring with 28 points, and accounting for 6 of the team's 12 made threes. Bogdanovic, Mitchell, and Clarkson had 16 apiece, and Gobert added 14 points and 15 boards. Donovan's points were attained via embarrassing 6-23 shooting, and Rudy was limited to 6 shots. O'Neale and Mitchell were both 0-8 from long range, and Clarkson was 2-9. Yikes!
OBSERVATIONS
This was a high-intensity game with a playoff atmosphere. The Mavericks were underdogs going in, but held their own with cohesive defense and stylish offense. It was raining threes on the Mavs’ end of the court, and the team rarely comes up short shooting 47% beyond the arc. Dallas may have gotten a little lucky with the Jazz missing some open shots, but that doesn't take away from their fine accomplishment.
This was an important victory for the home team, and constituted a statement that they can beat anybody when they’re on their game.
The Mavericks face the bottom-feeding Rockets in Houston on Wednesday. Taking care of business should be the order of the day.
Fantastic!