The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz 111-103 Monday night. The Mavericks led fairly wire after wire and took the lead in the first quarter and never gave up. Kristaps Porzingis did not play due to a sudden pulse disease, but it did not matter.
Luka Doncic was brilliant and scored 31 points, as well as nine rebounds and eight assists. Mike Conley led the way for the Jazz, with 28 points and seven assists. The Mavericks secured Utah’s nine game victory with their victory.
Here are three stats from a much-needed victory over one of the best teams in the Western Conference:
0: The number of points scored by Maxi Kleber and Nicolo Melli
Melli started the start with Porzingis, and although he provided pressure on the defense and bounced back well, he shot poorly. The recent addition of New Orleans shot 0-5 from deep. Kleber was not much better and missed the two shots he took.
Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr. everyone scores at least 15 points. Dwight Powell bagged four points. That was it. That was enough for the Mavericks to win the Jazz properly. Doncic scored more than 30 points, but it was quite incredible to win so easily when two of the beginners failed at all.
46.9%: The Mavericks’ three-point percentage
The Mavericks scored 23 field goals with three points, nearly doubling how much the Jazz made (12). Dallas is simply a different team if they shoot like that. They can hang with any other competitor in the NBA when their role players are consistent in depth. The Jazz guarded Finney-Smith with Rudy Gobert, who sank into the paint from him and dared him to make shots, which he did. Finney-Smith finished 5-of-12 from behind the arc, scoring 23 points. Richardson was perfectly on point when he made each of his five attempts, while Doncic was 6-out-11. The only Mavericks who could not turn away from three were Kleber and Melli.
+13.8: The average win margin during the current five-game win
The Mavericks are rolling and it’s shown on the scoreboard. They defeated the Thunder, Knicks and Wizards by double digits. The eight-point spread against the Jazz could easily have been the same. The only close game last week was against the Celtics, who beat the Mavericks by five. But the score looks closer than the game actually was, as Dallas dominated for three quarters before letting the Celtics crawl back late in the fourth game.
The Jazz were the only great team the Mavericks have played in these five games, but Dallas is unable to choose which games matter more. Mavericks need as many wins as possible as they try to move up the standings and avoid the in-tournament.