By james art DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and Klay Thompson added 18 to lead the Dallas Mavericks over the Utah Jazz 110-102 on Monday night.
Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks was carried off on a stretcher with a broken leg midway through the third quarter after falling to the floor without any contact near the baseline under Utah’s basket. The team said he had a fractured right fibula and a sprained ankle.
Luke Doncic had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a shooting night.
Irving didn’t score until he hit two 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds of the first quarter for the defending Western Conference champions, who have won two of their first three games.
Collin Sexton scored 23 points and Lauri Markkanen and Keonte George each added 17 to lead the Jazz, who lost their first three games for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Doncic was 5 of 22 from the floor and hit his only 3-pointer in nine attempts with 2:34 left.
Food to take home
Jazz: They entered the game 29th in the NBA in field goal shooting at 39 percent and 37 percent and 28.6 percent shooting from distance.
Mavericks: Irving was the only member of their big three shooting stars to find his shot from long range. Irving was 3 of 6 and Thompson was 4 of 11.
Key point
Dallas led 101-95 with 2:48 left in the game when Washington blocked Kessler at the rim. Doncic hit a 3-pointer seconds later to put Dallas ahead by nine.
Key statistics
Doncic nearly missed a three-pointer for the second time in five games last season. He was 0 for 8 from behind the arc in the Mavericks’ 122-84 Game 4 victory over the Boston Celtics in last year’s NBA Finals.
Next up
The two teams will finish against each other on Tuesday night. The Jazz will host the Sacramento Kings, while the Mavericks will host the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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