Now that they’ve finally grabbed sole possession of the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks are in
a why-stop-there mode.
As the Mavs (46-29) glanced at the standings after Sunday’s 114-100 win over the Utah Jazz, they noticed they’re only two games behind the No. 3-seed Golden State Warriors (48-27) with seven games to play. And since the Warriors have lost 10 of their last 15 games and have games this week against Memphis, Phoenix and Utah, the Mavs view this week as another opportunity to strike gold out West.
“That’s what we wanted (was the No. 4 seed), but it’s a long way to go,” point guard Luka Doncic said. “It’s like seven or eight games left, so we have to keep our composure and focus on the next opponent and try to win every game.”
And keeping their composure, the Mavs believe, also means keeping an eye on the Warriors.
“If the Warriors lose (two) and we win two we’re right there,” Doncic said. “And (finishing third is) even better than fourth place.”
For the Mavs, the best thing about possibly moving up to the No. 3 spot is the tiebreaker situation. Since the Mavs defeated Golden State three out of the four meetings between the two teams this season, if Dallas and the Warriors finish the season with identical records, the higher seed would belong to the Mavs.
Here are our five takeaways from Sunday’s 14-point win over the Jazz.
BRUNSON/DONCIC DOUBLING UP: Jalen Brunson showed once again why he is the perfect partner in the backcourt with Luka Doncic. While Doncic was busy scoring 32 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and distributing five assists, Brunson scored 22 points, snatched 10 rebounds and dealt five assists. It marked the first time in Mavs history that a guard tandem has scored at least 20 points, pulled down at least 10 rebounds and dispensed at least five assists in the same game.
BULLOCK ON TARGET: Reggie Bullock was right on target Sunday as he finished with a season-high 23 points. Overall, Bullock was 8-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three-point land. The seven three-pointers represent both a season-high and a career-high tying high water mark for Bullock. While playing for the New York Knicks last season in a Feb. 7 contest against the Miami Heat, Bullock also converted seven triples in 14 attempts. In the first half Sunday, Bullock was 4-of-5 from downtown. He tallied 11 of his points in the second quarter.
NO GOBERT, BIG PROBLEM FOR JAZZ: Approximately 40 minutes before tipoff, Jazz center Rudy Gobert ruled himself out of Sunday’s game with a right leg contusion. While playing without one of the most dominating centers in the NBA in regards to playing stout defense and rebounding the basketball put Utah in a serious pickle, it turned out to be a huge windfall for the Mavs. Whenever the Jazz plays the Mavs, Gobert always makes sure the Jazz dominate the boards. But since Gobert was on the sidelines in street clothes, the Mavs outrebounded the Jazz, 45-36, including 10-7 on the offensive end of the court.
DONCIC DIALING IN: Whenever there’s a big game to be played, rest assured, Luka Doncic will show up and show out. It happened again Sunday as the three-time All-Star put his fingerprints all over this game while letting everyone know he is a serious candidate to win this year’s Most Valuable Player award. Doncic set the tone early and often as he scored 11 points in the first quarter, 10 in the second quarter and 11 more in the third quarter. He finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and was 11-of-21 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown.
SHUTTING DOWN MITCHELL: Zeroing in on Donovan Mitchell and shutting him down was priority No. 1 for the Mavs. Mitchell came in averaging 26 points, but could only muster a season-low 12 points on 4-of-13 shots. That’s significant since Mitchell had scored at least 24 points in each of the previous eight games leading up to Sunday’s contest against the Mavs. And it was just the 14th time this season he had been held under 20 points. By the way, another one of those 14 occasions also occurred in Dallas when the Mavs limited Mitchell to just 17 points on March 7.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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