By james art Monday night turned into a game of the right matchup for the Dallas Mavericks. And they immediately put things right with a 110-102 win over the Utah Jazz at the American Airlines Center.
After losing Saturday night in Phoenix by 12 points, the Mavs wanted to make sure they got back on track before hitting the road to play Tuesday night at Minnesota. And with the triumph over the Jazz, the Mavs managed to improve their record to 2-1, while the Jazz remained winless at 0-3.
Kyrie Irving led the Mavs with 23 points, six rebounds and nine assists, Klay Thompson scored 18 points, Luka Doncic finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals, and Derek Lively II had 14 points and three blocks. Also for the Mavs, PJ Washington finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 11 points.
The Jazz were led by Collin Sexton (23 points), Lauri Markkanen (17 points, nine rebounds) and Keyonte George (17 points, five assists). Utah also got 16 points from John Collins, 13 points from Jordan Clarkson and 12 points and 11 rebounds from Walker Kessler.
The game was marred by a horrific injury to Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks. With 5:59 left in the third quarter and the Mavs ahead, 64-59, Hendricks was running down the right side of the court in the Jazz end of the floor and suddenly fell to the court.
Hendricks’ right leg collapsed and paramedics rushed to the court and took him to the locker room.
After a 3-pointer by Clarkson and a bucket by Sexton, the Mavs clung to a 101-95 lead with 3:51 left in the game. However, Doncic hit a 3-pointer, Irving hit a pair of free throws, Doncic scored on a fast break and Washington hit a dunk to give Dallas a comfortable 110-97 lead with just 1:26 left.
The Mavs led by as many as 11 points (31-20) early in the second quarter. And for the first time this season, they were able to negotiate a dunk, which was one of their trademark plays they used frequently during their run to the NBA Finals last season.
First, Doncic lobs Daniel Gafford for a dunk. Just over three minutes later, Lively took a center pass from Washington and drove the ball into the basket to put the Mavs up 39-31.
A late 3-pointer by Thompson gave the Mavs a 49-43 lead at the break. And Dinwiddie’s three three-pointers in the third quarter — one with just 2.4 seconds left — gave the Mavs an 82-70 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Despite the Jazz’s seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter, the Mavs used six points each from Irving and Washington to take a 27-19 lead into the second quarter.
Overall, the Mavs shot 45.3 percent from the field, but missed 28 of their 39 threes. But they held the Jazz to 37 percent shooting, while Utah also missed 25 of its 35 threes.
Each team finished the game with 50 rebounds, with Utah grabbing 15 offensively and the Mavs collecting 13 offensively.
X: @DwainPrice