SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Dallas Mavericks drop game three to the Utah Jazz by one point in Salt Lake City Utah on Saturday afternoon in a nailbiter. The Jazz pull out the one point win and the series is now tied at 2-2. Both teams will head back to Dallas where the Mavs will host game four on Monday night at 8:30 PM.
Luka Doncic returned for the Mavs for game three and was nothing shy of Luka. He had a double-double on the night, finishing with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Jalen Brunson added 23 points, five rebounds, adn three assists. Brunson has led the way for Dallas in this series, His ability to take the ball to the rim and finish strong is unmatched.
The issue that Dallas had the first two quarters was their ability to knock down shots. Their shots were not falling in the first half like they have been the last two games. They shot 18 percent from beyond the arc and 20 percent from the floor in the first half.
We went into the locker room down 54-42. If you have been following this Dallas team all year you know that they tend to rally in the third quarter. They did just that and outscored Utah 39-24 in the third quarter and managed to knock down some well needed three-pointers. With that dominating third quarter the Mavs took the lead entering the fourth.
The fourth quarter was a battle back and forth between both teams. It was a huge emphasis on who was going to do work down low and who was going to crash the boards harder.
The Jazz outrebounded us by three but the more obvious number was the points in the paint. We had 28 points in the paint while Utah had 36 points in the paint.
Dallas got two one point with 14 seconds left. Brunson passed off to Luka and Luka realized quickly he was double-teamed then passed it off to Spencer Dinwiddie for the final shot. Dinwiddie missed the open three and Utah took the game by one.
Dallas finished the night shooting 42 percent from the floor and 34 percent from the three-point line.
Luka and Jalen produced 53 of Dallas’s 99 points. The remaining starting line up all contributed 11 a piece adding 33 for Dallas.
Dallas will have their opportunity to hit back in Dallas, on their home turf, on Monday night in American Airlines Center at 8:30 PM.
