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SALT LAKE CITY — Ahead of Friday's game, both Dallas and Utah downplayed the importance of the particular matchup.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert said it was too early to look at the standings, and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said it was simply "one of 82."
That was what they said, but how they played told a different story.
Friday's potential first-round matchup proved worthy of a playoff game in its own right — an insanely well-played game that featured a chess match rarely seen in the regular season. There were radically different strategies deployed, big performances and clutch shots down the stretch.
Donovan Mitchell had 33 points, Bojan Bogdanovic hit a massive 3-pointer late in the game and Rudy Gobert's late defense on Luka Doncic was superb as the Jazz returned from the All-Star break with a 114-109 victory over Dallas at Vivint Arena.
As soon as Jazz coach Quin Snyder sat down for his postgame press conference, he said: "That was a significant game for us."
The importance in the standings was obvious.
With the win, the Jazz improved to 37-22 and now have a 2.5 game lead over Dallas (35-25) for the fourth spot in the West. But there was a reason no one wanted to make that too big of a deal: A win gave the Jazz some breathing room for home-court advantage, but that wasn't why the Jazz were so pleased with the win.
This was a win against a full-strength team with one of the best offensive talents in the game. It was just the type of game the Jazz have struggled to win this year. Add on the playoff implications and it felt bigger than just a simple game.
When Gobert locked down Doncic with 6:40 left in the game and forced a missed shot, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. It was rare anyone in the arena sat down from there on out. That was the atmosphere on Friday: two teams with electric superstars battling it out.
"It felt really good," Mitchell said. "When you narrow it down, we did what we were supposed to do. That's how we need to look at it."
Doncic had 23 points and 11 assists for the Mavericks. In the fourth quarter, though, Doncic was relatively held in check by none other than Gobert. The Jazz had gone away from their traditional drop big defense and chose to let Gobert switch onto Doncic out on the perimeter.
It was one of the many major adjustments made during the game — types of adjustments that are usually reserved for playoff matchups.
What transpired next was a near seven-minute long battle that showed just why Gobert is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Mavericks hunted the matchup with Gobert and Doncic, but they ended up with Doncic getting blocked, passing the ball or hitting tough step backs. In the end, the Jazz turned a 3-point deficit into a 5-point win during the final minutes.
Dallas was held to just 10 points in the final seven minutes of the game.
"Just trying to make him work. It was a team effort," said Gobert, who finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
The fascinating individual matchup was the bookend to what was a very well-played game. Both teams shot over 40% from 3-point range and executed at a high level; and there was never a lead over double digits.
Mitchell was 11 of 19 from the field and hit seven 3-pointers, but it was Bogdanovic who had the biggest shot of the night. With the game tied 107-107 with under two minutes remaining, Bogdanovic drilled a corner 3-pointer to give the Jazz the lead for good.
"I always want the ball in the clutch," said Bogdanovic, who finished with 18 points in the win.
