Dallas Mavericks were a big “If” entering the first-round series vs the Utah Jazz with Luka Doncic sidelined indefinitely. Dallas’ future in the series became gloomier as they dropped the first game having a bad shooting night in the process.
While the Mavs had to struggle to find their balance without their best shot-maker, Jalen Brunson took over in crucial Game 2 with a career-high 41 points. Brunson, who had a great season prior to that, headspeared the Mavs to 1-1.
More importantly, he changed the momentum as Utah showed the same defensive deficiencies in the postseason. Brunson went off again in Game 3 (126-118) to bring the home-court advantage back to Dallas.
Brunson had 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting. That came on the heels of a career-high 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting in Monday’s Game 2 win as Dallas re-took control of the first-round series.
Brunson, who played with a bruised back Thursday, became the unsung leader of the Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks. He attacked the paint relentlessly, scoring 22 points in the paint despite going against Rudy Gobert.
On the other hand, the Jazz could not handle the five-out strategy of the Dallas Mavericks, which leaves Rudy Gobert on “an island” with a perimeter scorer. The Jazz struggled but they took an 103-102 lead after Mike Conley’s basket with 6:42 remaining.
Dinwiddie made two baskets and Brunson scored six points on three straight possessions to make it 113-104. Since that point, the Mavs cruised to victory and regain control of the series.
“We’re playing at such a level that we’re able to withstand their runs,” Brunson told reporters.
“The fact we were able to do that tonight is special, because obviously this is a hard place to play. We’ve just got to continue to play our style of basketball and stick together,” Brunson continued.
The teams will meet again Saturday as the Mavericks are hoping to have Luka Doncic back for Game 4.
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