DALLAS — The opening round of the NBA playoffs for the Dallas Mavericks has shifted to Utah where the No. 5 seeded Utah Jazz have welcomed the No. 4 seeded Mavericks to Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah with the series lead on the line.
After Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz stole home court advantage away from Dallas with a 99-93 victory, the Mavericks bounced back in Game 2 behind a superlative 41-point, zero turnover performance from Jalen Brunson.
While Mitchell’s performance in this series is no surprise for a three-time All Star, Brunson has stepped up his game in the absence of All Star guard Luka Doncic, who was ruled out of Game 3 as he continues to nurse a left calf injury.
The Mavericks did the hard job of trying to take the home crowd out of the game, as they led 27-20 after the first quarter thanks in part to a 3 for 3 showing on 3-point attempts from forward Maxi Kleber.
Kleber finished the first half by going 4 for 5 from beyond the arc with the team going nuclear from deep overall to finish 13-25 (52.0%) from outside. A barrage of late 3-pointers gave Dallas a 68-51 halftime lead in what has been a chippy, physical game thus far.
With two quarters in the books in the crucial Game 3 contest, the battle between the two stellar guards has continued with Brunson leading the way for Dallas with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting while drawing a lot of attention from Jazz defenders.
Brunson has averaged a Doncic-esque 32.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the first two games of this series to keep Dallas afloat as their superstar continues to heal. However, Utah’s physical play appeared to injure Brunson late in the second quarter as the fourth-year vet didn’t return after limping off with 4:38 to go in the first half.
With Brunson’s return in question, lessening the impact of Mitchell could be the key in the second half.
Mitchell came into tonight’s game averaging 25.9 points, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals for the Jazz as their top offensive threat and playmaker. Through one half, the Mavericks have held Mitchell to just 4 points and 3 assists. More importantly, Mitchell has a +/- of minus 5 when he’s been on the floor as Dallas has worked to keep him in check.
While the Mavs hope the blossoming Brunson can return to continue being their go to option without Doncic, it’s become clear that working to keep Mitchell from lighting up the scoresheet is a must if the Mavs want to reclaim home court advantage in this series.
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