As the cold reality of just how brutal this challenge is going to be for them if they have to continue playing this series without Luka Dončić, the Mavericks figured out a way Saturday afternoon to give themselves a fighting chance.
That’s a major victory given that they are short 29 points and a bunch of rebounds and assists.
The Mavericks uglied up Game 1 against the Utah Jazz and nearly pulled off an improbable without their superstar before falling 99-93 at American Airlines Center.
Utah stole the home court away with the opening win. But that’s all it is — one win. The best-of-seven series is only in its infancy and the Mavericks showed enough grit and smarts to let the Jazz know that whether Luka plays or not, this series is going to be a grind.
And that’s by design. The Mavericks played even slower than their usual snail’s pace and held the NBA’s highest-rated offense to under 100 points.
“Overall, we slowed the game down and gave ourselves a chance to win without Luka and that really just shows the sign of a good team,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We always feel we have a chance when you hold a team under 100 points.
“But (neither team is) going to play extremely fast. So this could be (a throwback to) 2000 basketball where teams aren’t scoring over 100 points.”
That may suit the Mavericks just fine.
They tried to lean on Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie as primary playmakers to fill in for Dončić. And they both played well at times, combining for 46 points. But their shotmaking left much to be desired. That gave them a lot in common with the rest of their teammates as the trimmed-down eight-man rotation shot just 38 percent.
But Dinwiddie, who blamed himself for six costly missed free throws (in 16 attempts), said the feeling after Game 1 should be anything but melancholy.
“If anything, this should be encouraging for the fan base, in my opinion,” Dinwiddie said. “We’re disappointed in the locker room. Give them credit. They won the game.
“But we had our chance to win it and we just didn’t do it. Myself, it’s inexcusable in a playoff game to miss six free throws.
“And having their two best scorers both go for 30, basically and still holding them under 100, there’s a lot of room for optimism.”
And here’s more optimistic news. Since 1984, teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-seven series go on to win the series 75.6 percent of the time (433-140).
However, teams that win game 1 on the road only win the series 51.3 percent of the time (81-77).
Game 2 is Monday night at AAC.
Dončić officially was ruled out a couple hours before the game because of the calf injury that has kept him off the basketball court since April 10, the final day of the regular season when he injured it. He’s officially day-to-day, Kidd said.
Even without him, the game was very much in doubt until the final seconds.
The Mavericks, as they have done so many times this season, cut an 11-point deficit down to 90-88 with three minutes left.
Veteran Mike Conley drilled a midrange jumper, but Maxi Kleber knocked in a 3-pointer from the corner and it was 92-91.
After a couple of fruitless possessions, the Jazz got another offensive rebound – a big problem all game for the Mavericks – and Royce O’Neale canned a 3-pointer from the right corner with 56.2 seconds left for a 95-91 Jazz lead. It was O’Neale’s only basket of the game.
From there, the Jazz made their free throws to clinch it.
And so, the Jazz did what they needed to do, particularly in the third quarter. Donovan Mitchell, who had just two points before halftime, scored 19 in the third quarter as the Jazz moved ahead by double-figures. He would finish with 32 points and was ably assisted by Bojan Bogdanovic, who had 20 of his 26 points in the first half.
Rebounding, one of the Mavericks’ biggest concerns going into the series, was a crippling category for them in Game 1 as the Jazz continually hit the offensive glass hard and converted a slew of second-chance points, winning that department 20-7. The final rebounding numbers were 53-34.
When Hassan Whiteside grabbed a miss by Bojan Bogdanovic and flipped it back in the bucket, the Jazz had regained a double-figure lead at 84-74 with 6:20 to go.
The Mavericks got it back within 88-83 with 4 minutes left, then forced a traveling call on Mitchell. Reggie Bullock’s 3-pointer with 3:33 left tightened the screws more, setting up a playoff-intense finish.
The Mavericks simply could not find enough offensive punch to get them over the hump. Their offense was missing, with much of it, sadly, sitting over on the bench in a designer sweatsuit.
If the Mavericks have to play Game 2 or maybe more without Luka, they will have to find a way to jump-start their offense. But the good new news is that they have a blueprint that, so far, they know will give them a chance.
“It’s the playoffs,” said Dorian Finney-Smith. “One loss kind of feels like the world ended. But it’s just a loss.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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