Here are my 5 takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks’ 117-102 loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena:
1. BRUNSON IS COOL UNDER FIRE: Jalen Brunson covered a lot of ground in a six-second sequence in the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz. First, the rookie guard from Villanova scored on a layup, then stole the inbounds pass from Derrick Favors. But although he was right under the basket and had an easy layup, Brunson missed that shot. However, he grabbed offensive rebound and then scored. That’s five significant things Brunson was able to do in a six-second span, all while scoring four points. And 25 seconds later, Brunson capped things off by drilling a 3-pointer to get the Mavs within nine points of the Jazz.
2. THE LUKA SHOW SHINES AGAIN: Another city, another fine showing at the box office by Luka Doncic. The rookie forward from Slovenia left his mark in Salt Lake City by scoring a game-high 24 points, grabbing six rebounds and distributing a pair of assists. Doncic was 7-of-14 from the floor, 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc and made all seven of his free throw attempts. Yes, he turned the ball over five times, which – protecting the ball — is something he has to work on. But this is the sixth time in the last 10 games that Doncic has scored at least 21 points in a game, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.
3. BALANCED SCORING RULED THE NIGHT: Coach Rick Carlisle has said he doesn’t have a primary go-to player, and that his offense is predicated on a lot of folks stepping up and leading the Mavs in scoring. That rang true against the Jazz as seven Mavs scored at least 10 points, and those seven players combined to score 94 of the team’s 102 points. In addition to the 24 points scored by Luka Doncic, Harrison Barnes poured in 14 points, Wesley Matthews tossed in 13 points, DeAndre Jordan, J. J. Barea and Jalen Brunson popped in 11 points apiece, and Dennis Smith Jr. added 10 points.
4. A PARADE AT THE FREE THROW LINE: Your eyes did not deceive you. The Mavs attempted a whopping 40 free throws against the Jazz, which is unheard of for an opponent in this building. It’s the most free throw attempts by the Mavs since they went to the line 44 times against the Golden State Warriors on Apr. 4, 2015. In the third quarter, when both teams were whistled for 18 fouls, the Mavs were 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. Overall, the Mavs made 36 of their free throws and shot an impressive 90 percent from the line. Luka Doncic and J. J. Barea each were 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
5. COMEBACK FELL A BIT SHORT: The Mavs outscored the Jazz in both the third (38-31) and fourth (19-18) quarters, which is something to point to in the film room going forward. Unfortunately, the Jazz set the tone in this game by outscoring the Mavs in both the first (30-18) and second (38-27) quarters. Those slow starts are somewhat of a mystery to the Mavs, who again spent the balance of the game playing catchup basketball. Despite being down by 24 points in the second quarter, the Mavs drew within nine points of Utah in the fourth quarter and had five chances to get closer than that.
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