Recently, a Luka Doncic completely involved in work, successful in its various facets, giving a plus that has made the Mavs great. He is in that moment. He is giving the pull. In the last month he has enjoyed ten games to demonstrate his power, the change in diet to which he has undergone, his quality and the items that we want to add to him, and he has done so: he has played nine, the last one he skipped to rest , and the average points is 35.8. In this monumental streak he has had only two days in which he has not been the dagger that he has been in the others: in Miami, in a dominated match when he wanted even though the final numbers said otherwise, and in Utah, where he came out ranting against the referees after a not so brilliant performance. The case of the Jazz is the one that must be treated with special affectionnot only because it is the one that concerns this Monday’s meeting that we have to focus on, but because we are talking about two teams that can meet at the beginning of the next playoffs. AND the field is already watered with incentives if this occurs: sprints, victories for both, different streaks, revenge, etc. The Mavericks, after that aforementioned setback, have dressed as winners at home, in which they have finished above (111-103) those from Salt Lake City, who did not get to grab their opponent by the chest in any time of the night to even fight the victory.
That defeat in Utah just after the All-Star annoyed a Doncic excessively who, knowing the entire image, had to give a strong rudder this time. The reason is not only in that previous confrontation, it is more in the one that they can have back in April in a series of playoffs to seven games. The Jazz (40-24) are far from third in the West, held by the stagnant Warriors (43-22), because they are three wins away. The Mavericks (40-25), who are fifth, it seems that they will play that position with the Nuggets (39-26), who improve compared to what was seen at the beginning of the course. Utah and Dallas, after today’s result, are only separated by a loss. They would go head to head if the regular season ended now. There will be no respite in the month that remains for these four teams, or if one of them plays god in the mortal realm, losing games to have a more affordable crossover.
35 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. 5/11 in triples, close to 50%, and 12/23 in the overall field goals, above. Despite the fact that rebounds are not an unequivocal sign in today’s NBA, it is his best mark of the season and against a terror on the boards like Rudy Gobert, with whom he keeps alive those small disputes that took Doncic out of his game previous and that prevented the French from dominating this one. Luka’s absence against the Kings was largely fixed by Dinwiddie scoring and Finney-Smith scoring the decisive shot, and here between the two of them they contributed 44 points to help the Slovenian put up barriers against the Jazz, a gangly team in the offensive when he has the day. Defense was, however, more important in stopping Mitchell and Conley, who did little to help their cause. Croatian Bojan Bogdanovic, with 21 points, was the top scorer for the visitors.
Both teams have one last match left in regular season which seems very interesting if these ingredients remain fresh: March 27 will be the date.
13 seconds, the total time the Jazz were ahead on the scoreboard. Beyond how shocking that number may seem, the reality is in the moments in which the result was decided. Snyder’s men couldn’t dispute the same thing with the locals throughout the last quarter, in which they scored more but in which this was practically useless. The Mavs’ job was done beforehand. Doncic had gone from 15 in the first quarter to shooting and missing just twice in the second period. With his 3/6 from long range in the third period, but also with his art to read the defense to take advantage of his passes, Luka and his friends got the Jazz off point. It is an appetizing appetizer if in a few weeks we are served this more voluminous dish as a main course.
