The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz 111-103 on Monday night. The Mavericks led virtually from end to end, taking the lead in the first quarter and never giving in. Kristaps Porzingis didn’t play due to a sudden wrist disease, but it didn’t matter.
Luka Doncic was brilliant, scoring 31 points, as well as receiving nine rebounds and eight assists. Mike Conley led the way for Jazz, placing 28 points and seven assists. The Mavericks broke Utah’s nine-game winning streak with their win.
Here are three statistics of a much-needed victory over one of the best teams in the Western Conference:
0: The number of points Maxi Kleber and Nicolo Melli scored
Melli started with Porzingis from the outside and, although he gave strength in the defense and recovered well, he kicked badly. The recent addition of New Orleans hit 0-5 from the bottom. Kleber was not much better, missing both shots.
Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored at least 15 points. Dwight Powell shared four points. That’s it. That was enough for the Mavericks to easily beat Jazz. Doncic scoring more than 30 points helped that, but it is still amazing to win so easily when two of the starters didn’t score anything.
46.9%: the Mavericks three-point percentage
The Mavericks hit 23 three-point field goals, almost double what Jazz did (12). Dallas is simply a different team when shooting like that. They can stay with any other competitor in the NBA when their players are consistent from a distance. Jazz protected Finney-Smith with Rudy Gobert, who fell from him in the painting and challenged him to shoot, which he did. Finney-Smith finished 5 of 12 behind the hoop, scoring 23 points, the best of the season. Richardson was perfect at the ends each time making each of his five attempts, while Doncic made 6 of 11. The only Mavericks who failed to convert from three were Kleber and Melli.
+13.8: The average winning margin during the current five game winning streak
The Mavericks are on the rise and that appears on the scoreboard. They defeated the Thunder, Knicks and Wizards by double digits. The eight-point spread against Jazz could easily have been the same. The only game played last week was against the Celtics, which the Mavericks won by five. But that score looks closer than the game actually was, as Dallas dominated by three quarters before letting the Celtics return to the contest at the end of the fourth period.
Jazz was the only truly good team that the Mavericks played in this five-game streak, but Dallas is in no position to choose which games are most important. The Mavericks need as many wins as they can while trying to move up the ranks and avoid the play-in tournament.