By james art Dallas Mavericks beat Utah Jazz 110-102; a perfect score before they head to Minnesota for their first game of the season.
Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 23, and PJ Washington finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Dallas nearly held Utah to a sub-100 point game in what could be debated as good defense or bad offense. Still, Colin Sexton had a solid night, shooting 9-for-11 and scoring 23 points to lead the Jazz.
It’s a good team win after Dallas looked a little sloppy against a Suns team playing back-to-backs.
Many hands make light work
On a night that might turn out to be Luka Doncic’s worst goal-scoring performance all season, the rest of the lineup stepped up. In addition to Doncic’s 15 points, five other Mavs scored in double figures, led by Irving’s 23.
But it wasn’t just scoring that Dallas dealt with by committee. Five Dallas players finished the game with over five rebounds.
The most comforting thing about the win was that it never felt like a fluke. Luca’s margin for error is no longer zero. The cast around him is made up of solid contributors who can deliver a game like this as a natural and not just a one-off. We’re unlikely to get many games like this from Doncic, though.
To his credit, Doncic ended up hitting a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter (his first and only long-range shot of a 1-for-9 night) that did away with any hint of a Jazz comeback, but he will certainly wants to see the ball drop a little easier tomorrow.
All filler
With both offenses starting the game slowly (Dallas led 49-42 at halftime), there was a premium placed on players making an impact elsewhere on the court. For Dallas, no player did as much as P.J. Washington.
For the game, he recorded a solid 12 points, but the way he filled the box score early in the game really helped Dallas establish and hold a lead for most of the game. Washington had 11 of Dallas’ 49 points at the half, but also contributed seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. He did a little bit of everything for Dallas tonight, and it was exactly the play the Mavericks needed until the offense came online later in the game.
Tinker time
With Exum out and Maxi Kleber on the injury report, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd used the rotation vacancies as an opportunity to tinker with some lineups.
After a DNP coach’s decision last game, Spencer Dinwiddie was the first off the bench for Dallas tonight against the Jazz. He played solid defensively, making a big block on Keyonte George that led to a shot clock violation, but his impact was felt in a big way on offense. In the third quarter in particular, Dinwiddie poured in 11 points and hit all three of his three-pointers. He pushed Dallas’ lead back to 12 in the fourth after it had dwindled to just two in the third.
And while we didn’t get much time for Jaden Hardy tonight, there is still some youth development happening as OMax Prosper got some early minutes in the first half.
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