The Dallas Mavericks know they’ll have to clean up a few things before Game 5 after they let Game 4 of their first-round
playoff series against the Utah Jazz slip away.
The Mavs led Game 4, 99-95, with 39.1 seconds left Saturday afternoon. They were still ahead, 99-98, when Dwight Powell went to the free throw line with a chance to extend that lead to three points with 19 seconds remaining.
Powell, however, missed both free throws, and Rudy Gobert’s dunk with 11 seconds left won the game for the Jazz, 100-99, after Spencer Dinwiddie’s three-pointer at the buzzer was no good.
“We got some great looks, we get to the free-throw line (and) we just don’t make them,” coach Jason Kidd said. “That’s just part of the game.
“You’ve got to be able to step up and knock them down.”
Despite the loss, because the Mavs won Game 3 in Utah, 126-118, they have regained home court advantage. Game 5 is Monday at 8:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center, Game 6 is Thursday in Utah, and a Game 7 – if necessary – will be Saturday at AAC.
“We fought,” Kidd said. “But again, in this building, to give yourself a chance to win two games, we will take that.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win (Saturday), but we didn’t. They did (win), so now we just have to go home and protect home.”
Here are our five takeaways from the Mavs’ one-point loss to the Jazz.
DONCIC RETURNS: Luka Doncic returned Saturday after missing the first three games of this series while recovering from a strained left calf muscle. Doncic played 34 minutes and finished with a game-high 30 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals. He also was 12-of-21 from the field, including 4-of-10 from three-point land. It was Doncic who buried a step-back three-pointer that gave the Mavs a 99-95 lead with only 39.1 seconds left. It appeared that was going to be the clutch basket that was going to give the Mavs a commanding 3-1 lead 
in this best-of-seven series.
BRUNSON STEADY: Jalen Brunson followed up his 41-point showing in Game 2 of this series with a 31-point showing in Game 3. And he followed that up with 23 points Saturday in Game 4. Brunson was 7-of-18 from the floor, including 2-5 from downtown. He also converted seven of his eight free throws, in addition to grabbing five rebounds and handing out three assists in 35 minutes.
SECOND CHANCE POINTS: Oh, those second chance points. The Jazz outscored the Mavs in second chance points, 22-12, and that played a major role in the difference in this game. Of course, the biggest second chance points were generated by Donovan Mitchell. With the Mavs closing in on winning Game 4, Mitchell drove the lane, missed a shot, snatched the offensive rebound, scored, was fouled on the play, then made the free throw to get the Jazz within 99-98 of the Mavs with 31.2 seconds left. Had the Mavs been able to grab that defensive rebound, the Jazz would have had to play the free throw game, which likely would have favored Dallas in the waning seconds.
GOBERT WITH THE GAME-WINNER: Rudy Gobert produced the game-winning shot when his wide-open dunk with 11 seconds remaining accounted for the final points of the game. The Mavs were in a tussle all night trying to keep Gobert away from the rim. That resulted in Gobert attempting a whopping 18 free throws – he only made nine of them. Gobert wound up scoring 17 points and grabbing a
game-high 15 rebounds. He also had more offensive rebounds (10) than the Mavs (seven).
BENCH SCORING: The Mavs enjoyed a huge advantage in bench scoring in Game 3 when their reserves outscored the Jazz reserves, 49-24. But in Game 4, Utah’s bench got the best of the Mavs when it won this scoring battle, 35-13. A huge chunk of those points by the Jazz came from Jordan Clarkson, who finished with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Clarkson also made three of his five attempts from beyond the three-point arc. The Mavs’ reserves were 4-of-19 from the floor, including 3-of-15 from three-point land, while Utah’s bench was 12-of-24 from the field and 5-of-10 from downtown.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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