DALLAS, TX – The fourth seed Dallas Mavericks tie the series with the Utah Jazz in a 110-104 win in American Airlines Center on Monday night. Jalen Brunson scores a new career high 41 points to lead Dallas to a victory.
Mavs opened up with a 14-6 run with Brunson scoring 11 of the 14 for Dallas. Brunson came out of huddle on a rampage, he went 4-of-4 in the first seven minutes of the game and 100 percent from beyond the arc shooting 3-of-3.
Brunson continued to knock down shots for the Mavs while the remainder of the team couldn’t really find rhythm offensively. Spencer Dinwiddie went 0-of-5 in the first quarter converting on no shots. Brunson finished the quarter with 15 of Dallas’s 24. Both teams were tied at 24 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was back and forth for both teams. It seemed like Dallas was making more shots but if you’re wondering why we still ended the quarter down seven, the answer is simple – rebounding. We got outrebounded 22 to 9 in the first quarter and a half in this game. Head coach Jason Kidd discussed that that was a big enfasis during their two days off, yet tonight we got the same result as we did Saturday.
After some poor officiating Jazz went into the bonus with 3:33 left in the quarter. With Dinwiddie, Finney-Smith, and Bertans all having two fouls, Dallas had to be careful for the remainder of the half.
Mavs went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 48 with 1:05 remaining in the half with the help of Dinwiddie’s back-to-back shots. Jazz rallied with one minute left and took a 55-48 lead into the half.
Mavs got outrebounded in the first half 28-13 and shot 41 percent from the field. Brunson had 21 of Dallas’s 48 points.
The free throw disparity was very eye opening at the half. The refs weren’t necessarily on our side. Dallas shot 1-of-2 at the line in the first half while the Jazz shot 13-of-14. Utah clearly had more opportunities at the line than the Mavs in the first half.
Utah entered the third quarter and quickly added five points to the board, Dallas answered and went on a 8-0 run bringing the game within two points 60-58.
The remainder of the quarter was a back and forth battle. Brunson added another 10 points onto his resume and Dinwiddie started to get into the rhythm of things he added 15 points.
Maxi Kleber hit a three at the end of the third quarter to give Dallas a one point lead. Kleber shot 8-of-11 from the three-point line and had 25 points for the Mavs.
Dallas entered the fourth quarter down 81-77, despite all the bad calls from the refs Dallas did not back down from the challenge. At the end of the third quarter the free throw disparity was so bad you couldn’t not notice it. Utah was 16-19 at the line while Dallas was 5-6.
The Mavs started to get angry and it showed in how they played. They started playing with heart and grit. Brunson really showed out for Dallas tonight, he had 41of Dallas’s 110 points.
Maxi Kleber hit eight three-pointers on the night scoring 25 points for the Mavs. Kleber hit three three-pointers late and it became contagious for Dallas. Everyone started making three’s, it was literally raining three’s in AAC the last three minutes of regulation.
Dallas rallied in the final three minutes and took the game tying the series 1-1.
The Mavs will head to Utah to play Game 3 on Thursday April 21 at 9 PM.
KEY PLAYERS :
Jalen Brunson had 41 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Maxi Kleber had 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.
