Utah Jazz came at the top in Game 1 of the Western Conference first round series vs the Dallas Mavericks as they downed the hosts 93-99. The Jazz dominate the paint and took advantage of Luka Doncic absence to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Dovovan Mitchell scoring 32 points, the Jazz took over the game and grind their way to the victory. Dallas shot just 38 percent from the field, while the Jazz saw Bojan Bogdanovic making 11 of his 20 shots to finish with 26 points.
Rudy Gobert had 17 rebounds and three blocks being the initiator of the Jazz’s defensive master plan. For Dallas, Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 24, but the Villanova product shot just 9-of-24.
Utah outrebounded Mavs 53-34, while they outscored their opponents by 14 points in the paint, having 50 inside the arc. The Mavericks had only 34 in the paint trying to be a more perimeter-centric team.
After building a 41-32 lead with less than four minutes left in the first half, the Mavs couldn’t hold off a furious 13-2 Jazz run to end the quarter. Dallas trailed 45-43 at the break.
Although the Mavs kept things close in the second half, they simply couldn’t get the consistent stops or score needed to pull off the upset. Utah finished the game with a 7-1 run in the last two minutes to pull away and win the game.
The teams will meet again Monday for Game 2 of the series. It’s still unclear if Luka Doncic will be able to return, as Dallas was desperately needed his scoring in Game 1 Saturday.
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