In his first season as the head man in Dallas, Coach Jason Kidd has instilled a different intensity and passion in the Mavericks, one that was on full display Monday night as they overcame a deficit and the absence of star Luka Doncic, to even their first round playoff series with a home court Game 2 win.
Jalen Brunson led the way with a legacy building performance, becoming one of just a handful players to score at least 40 points in a playoff game for Dallas, his 41 points pacing them to a 110-104 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 2. Dallas played great fundamental basketball by making the extra pass to man, knocking down open shots and not turning the ball over. Maxi Kleber was the primary beneficiary of the ball movement and kept the offense flowing by shooting a scintillating 8-of-11 from beyond the arc to end the night with 25 points.
After the game, Coach Kidd spoke glowingly about his team’s resilience to bounce back from a tough game one loss, and ability to execute the game plan and put in the extra effort necessary to win a postseason game.
“This is a team that is never going to quit,” Coach Kidd said. “They’re going to play to the end and they believe they can win, and again in the fourth quarter no matter how much we’ve been out rebounded, we find a way to come up with the rebounds late in the game and that’s what wins games at this time of year.”
Just like game one, Luka Doncic was sidelined for Game 2, as he recovers from a left calf sprain. His absence left the Mavs lacking offense late in game one, but Brunson and Kleber asserted themselves and made sure to get the offense back on track Monday. While Kleber was sharpshooting, Brunson repeatedly attacked the basket, to score or kick. He also ended up hitting some timely threes to finish with a career-high 41 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Brunson established himself as a scorer from the jump, dropping 15 points on Utah in the opening frame on 6-of-7 shooting, including three triples. After scoring in the paint to put Dallas on the board, Dorian Finney-Smith hit a three to put the Mavericks up 5-4. From there, Brunson started to heat up, scoring Dallas’ next 13 points. First Reggie Bullock found him for a 25-foot three-pointer and following a Jazz basket Brunson nailed two more threes in succession, which put Dallas in front by eight points. He followed an Utah triple, knocking down a mid-range J and then finished the run with a layup that had the Mavs up 18-11 less than eight minutes into the game.
Utah responded with a run of their own to close out the quarter. Donovan Mitchell scored a quick five points and after a Kleber three, Mitchell found Bojan Bogdanovic for a jumper. Dallas briefly stopped the bleeding inside two minutes when Spencer Dinwiddie drew a double team and quickly passed it to an open Trey Burke, who buried a three to give the Mavs a five-point lead. However the Jazz answered by hitting the final two baskets to tie things up at 24-24 after one.
Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson carried Utah’s momentum into the second frame allowing the Jazz to establish a five-point lead just four minutes into the second quarter. After a slow start to the second, Dallas’ offensive rhythm started clicking halfway through when Bullock and Kleber hit back to back three pointers to give Dallas a 33-32 lead. However, Utah made another closing run to pull away from Dallas.
Both teams struggled to make baskets down the stretch of the first half, but the difference in the second was Utah’s ability to get the charity stripe. The Jazz were perfect from the free throw line, going 12-of-12 in the quarter. In the final minute, two trips to the free throw line and a Mitchell three-pointer put Utah up seven entering halftime, 55-48.
The Jazz were able to grow their lead to double digits at the start of the third quarter after Rudy Gobert found Clarkson for a three-pointer to make it 60-50. However, Brunson and Dinwiddie quickly responded before Utah could grow their lead any further. Brunson got things going with a pull up jumper and on the next possession Dinwiddie drove inside to finish a layup. They continued alternating shots, and after Finney-Smith blocked O’Neale, Brunson gathered the rebound and finished a reverse layup on the other end. Dinwiddie followed by getting a putback basket and the mini 8-0 run put the Mavs within a basket.
Though Utah finally got going again after that, Brunson kept answering. He hit a three-pointer and Utah responded with a three of their own, but on the ensuing possession, Brunson hit another three to keep the Mavs within striking distance down just three, 67-64. In the final minutes of the third, Utah grew their lead to five, but that’s when Kleber got hot from three. Bullock sent a pass out to Maxi, who drained a 25-footer to cut their deficit back to two. Seconds later, Davis Bertans found Kleber for another three to give Dallas the 74-73 lead at the two minute mark. However the back and forth trend continued with the Jazz closing out the third on a 8-3 run to head into the final frame up 81-77, a slim four-point margin separating the two teams.
Coach Kidd’s Mavs proved throughout the regular season that they are a tough team that will not fold in the clutch. Their mettle would be tested down the stretch of Game 2.
A later by Mitchell early in the frame pushed Utah’s lead to six and though the Mavs kept pace, they couldn’t seem to string together the stop and bucket they’d need to cut into the deficit early in the fourth. After Mitchell converted a three point play to put Utah up seven with eight minutes to go in the game, Dallas needed to make a run and they went back to the way they opened the game, making the extra pass on one end and filling passing lanes on the defensive end.
Ball movement helped Dallas slowly start shifting the momentum, Dinwiddie found Bullock for a three-pointer, and then the Mavs got a stop. On the next possession, Brunson hit a floater, then came another stop, and after a fruitless possession for the Dallas offense, yet another stop as the Jazz started to go cold. Right near the half point, the Mavs used beautiful ball movement to find an open Finney-Smith, who caught a pass from Kleber and buried a triple to give Dallas a 94-93 advantage.
After another stop and a Brunson basket, O’Neale hit a three-pointer to stop the Dallas run and the game was tied at 96-all with under five minutes to play. In the final minutes of the game, the difference ended up being the Mavs hitting threes while the Jazz settled for twos. After Mitchell hit a floater, Brunson found Kleber for a three-pointer. Seconds later, Kleber hit another three, to give himself 10 points in the quarter. His third three of the fourth and eighth of the game gave Dallas a four point lead, 102-98.
Bogdanovic hit a quick two, and Dinwiddie answered, getting inside and hitting a tough floater of his own. However, Bogdanovic hit another basket inside the paint to put Utah within two with 2:40 to play.
What followed was the most critical possession of the game. Sitting on 38 points, Brunson held the ball at the top of the key with everyone in the arena expecting him to take the shot. However, his vision made the impact in clutch time as he drove past his defenders drawing a swarm of Jazz players to him. He passed to the corner, finding a wide open Finney-Smith for a three-pointer, which put the Mavs up five. Some more great defensive play followed for Dallas and in the final minute they iced the game at the free throw line.
The Mavs were able to secure the 110-104 victory while also setting two postseason franchise records. The team knocked down 22 three-pointers and only had three turnovers. Afterward, J-Kidd discussed the Mavs’ strategy.
“Analytics will say if you shoot threes and the other teams are shooting twos, you have a great chance of winning,” Coach Kidd said. “It’s just mathematics, if we’re making threes and they’re making twos, we feel like we’re playing their game and we feel we have the advantage. As we get healthy here, hopefully that gives us the edge.”