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SALT LAKE CITY — Luka Doncic walked onto the court at halftime at the American Airlines Center wearing a sweatsuit and a designer hoodie.
He had the slightest limp in his step that caused him to strut more than walk with the Mavericks down two to the Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series.
It's not an ideal situation. But Doncic's long-term health — not to mention, mid-term — is the constant, subtle reminder of the calf strain for which he was diagnosed last week in his left leg after what turned out to be a meaningless game against San Antonio — one with no impact on Dallas' fourth-place finish in the conference.
In an ideal world, perhaps he could've played Saturday, too.
But calf injuries have a tendency to progress quickly if mismanaged. And an injury in that part of the leg could progress into something much more serious — nobody said the dreaded "A" word for the tendon named after a certain hero of Greek mythology, but it likely wasn't far from mind when coach Jason Kidd met with the media before Game 1.
So Doncic didn't dress, sat on the bench in street clothes and munched popcorn out of a cup, all the while hoping his team could somehow grind out a win in the series opener against Utah.
It didn't happen. But does that make the decision the wrong one after Utah's 99-93 win in Dallas that effectively stole homecourt advantage from the Mavs?
Doncic's status is day-to-day with the injury, Kidd said, which means the NBA All-Star's availability for Monday's Game 2 at home is still in question. If the Mavericks drop that game, they could be facing an uphill climb in a playoff series that will revert back to Salt Lake City in a series where the last seven meetings have been won by the home team before this weekend.
And yet Kidd and the Mavs remained optimistic at the outcome, despite the 6-point loss and the 32-point eruption from Donovan Mitchell, to say nothing of Bojan Bogdanovic's 26.
Even without Doncic, Jalen Brunson had 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead Dallas. Spencer Dinwiddie added 22 points and eight assists, and Reggie Bullock had 15 points and six rebounds for the Mavs, who somehow had a chance to win with as little as one minute left in the game.
"There were a lot of wide-open looks for us. I think that we have to be more patient," said Kidd, who made his playoff debut as a head coach. "But the looks that we got coming down the stretch, we normally make those. And that's just the game of basketball. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.
"But I thought overall, we slowed the game down and gave ourselves a chance to win without Luka. That's the sign of a good team."
Things might have been different were it not for Bogdonavic's 20 first-half points that led to the Jazz's 2-point halftime lead, or Mitchell's 19 third-quarter points that gave Utah a lead it would never relinquish after the break.
They might even have been a little bit different if Dallas were slightly better at the foul line, where the Mavs made just 26-of-34 field goal, including Brunson's miss on a technical free throw after Mitchell had apparently got the Jazz dinged for having six men on the court after he tried to sub in for Clarkson in the fourth quarter. Even an extra corner three or a defensive rebound — say, before O'Neale's dagger trey in the final two minutes — could've made all the difference.
"We lost by six and made six free throws," Dinwiddie said. "We're right there; if anything, this should be encouraging for the fanbase. We're disappointed in the locker room — and obviously give them credit, for going out and winning the game. But we had our chance to win it, and we just didn't do it, myself first and foremost.
"It's inexcusable in a playoff game to miss six free throws, and if you make those, given the time period when they're hitting those shots, they're down four — we're the ones getting fouled. It flips the game."
The Mavericks held Utah below 100 points, which Kidd said is the most encouraging factor. Do that in the NBA, he argues, and you'll always give yourself a chance.
What the Mavs didn't do well — and something Kidd called to their attention before the series started — was rebound. The hosts couldn't contend in the paint with Rudy Gobert, who had 17 rebounds to help the Jazz storm to a 53-34 margin on the boards. Kidd expected a disparity, especially on the defensive glass, without Doncic — but the small-ball lineup that only gathered seven offensive boards will concern him when he looks at the tape Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"In this game, you're going to give up something," Kidd said. "The things that we tried not to give up were the lobs and the threes. We'll concede the twos, in the sense of contest — not just give them twos, but make them work. And that's what they did this afternoon."
What can be done?
"We've just got to send all five," Dinwiddie said, "Make sure we get the defensive rebound."
