The opening matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz got here all the way down to the wire. With the playoffs formally underway, the primary recreation of the 2022 postseason passed off in Dallas.
Coming into the sport, the Mavs knew they’d be with out their finest participant in Luka Doncic. Nevertheless, even with out their star they almost beat the Jazz.
“Hopefully he will get wholesome,” stated Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “You at all times need an important participant to get the chance to play, whether or not he’s in your staff or the opposite.”
Utah finally received Recreation 1 by a ultimate rating of 99-93. It was a contest wherein scoring wasn’t plentiful, but additionally didn’t lack pleasure. In a recreation of runs, it really got here all the way down to the ultimate minutes to find out a winner.
When it got here all the way down to it, the scale distinction between the 2 rosters was the first issue. The Mavericks lack a dominant 7-footer, as Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber (each 6-foot-10) stuffed out the middle rotation on Saturday afternoon.
That’s merely not sufficient measurement to match up in opposition to the Utah facilities in Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside, who’re each 7-foot-1. Moreover they’re each conventional bigs which are nice on the glass. This proved to be a key differentiator, as Dallas was outrebounded 53 to 34.
“We’ve simply gotta rebound the ball, particularly enjoying small. It’s simply one thing we’ve gotta get higher at,” stated Mavs coach Jason Kidd postgame.
No matter when Doncic comes again, the battle on the boards goes to proceed to be vital. This collection might finally come all the way down to the fashion of play. If the Jazz proceed to outmatch the Mavs with their measurement, they’ll have an enormous benefit. On the flip facet, if Dallas can have success with its small ball lineups and play Gobert and Whiteside off the ground, issues might swing within the favor of the Mavericks.
Each groups failed to attain 100 factors in Recreation 1, so each bucket actually mattered all through the competition. It was a story of two halves for the Jazz, as Bojan Bogdanovic carried the offense within the first half whereas Donovan Mitchell shouldered the load within the second.
Of the 45 factors Utah scored within the first half, Bogdanovic account for almost half with 20. Within the second half, Mitchell produced 30 of his 32 factors on the afternoon.
Whereas the Jazz didn’t have a constant main scorer throughout the whole recreation, they obtained the factors they wanted in bunches from two of their finest offensive gamers. Gobert completed with simply 5 factors on one area objective try, however made his influence on the glass and on protection.
“We had an opportunity, held them underneath 100 factors. That was powerful,” stated Spencer Dinwiddie after the loss.
Though Utah got here out on high in Recreation 1, Dallas ought to really feel extraordinarily optimistic. With out their finest participant, the Mavericks legitimately had a shot to win. You would argue that when Doncic comes again, the Mavs must be favorites the remainder of the best way.
The guard duo of Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson mixed for 46 factors, however will have to be extra environment friendly shifting ahead. These two took a complete of 39 photographs to supply these factors.
The Mavs began sizzling from past the arc, however cooled off as the sport went on. They completed 9-of-32 (28.1%) from deep on the afternoon. If only a couple extra of these photographs would have gone down, the end result of this recreation might have simply been completely different.
The Jazz obtained the win, however it wasn’t essentially convincing in opposition to a shorthanded Mavericks staff. This collection might nonetheless go both manner.
“We’ve obtained to do a greater job of constructing the simple photographs,” stated Brunson looking forward to the subsequent matchup. “We missed loads of simple photographs. Gotta observe our recreation plan and stick collectively.”
Recreation 2 will happen in Dallas as soon as once more on Monday night.
