Jazz-Mavs Game 4 blog: Utah evens series at 2 games apiece

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz face a near must-win game on Saturday in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks regained home-court advantage on Thursday with a 126-118 win over the Jazz in Game 3 and could put a stranglehold on the series by taking both games in Salt Lake City.

Game 4 will tip at 2:30 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on TNT and AT&T SportsNet.

Follow here for live updates, commentary and news throughout the day.

Saturday, 06:06 pm

Twitter reacts to the Jazz series-equalizing win over Dallas

There were plenty of reactions to the Utah's 100-99 win over Dallas that tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece Saturday afternoon at Vivint Arena. For some, shock after the Mavericks overcame a 16-point first-half deficit, regained a fourth-quarter advantage, and then watched it slip away (again) on Donovan Mitchell's lob to Rudy Gobert to seal the win.For others, stunned disbelief, after the Jazz managed to do what they couldn't do in a game at home and on the road — finish off the Mavs, and with a healthy Luka Doncic, no less. Others, confidence, like Jazz leading scorer Jordan Clarkson as he took dabs from part-owner Dwyane Wade after a gritty performance.

.@DwyaneWade shows love to @JordanClarksons postgame 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pYLedOZN8f
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 23, 2022

Still, others were stunned in disbelief at something else: Mitchell passed to Gobert? But that goes against so many narrative on the #internet.

RIP "Donovan doesnt pass to Rudy" (April 2022 - April 2022)
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 23, 2022

Others were just happy to witness a good game, like former BYU star Kyle Collinsworth, the Provo native who spent time with the Mavericks and their G League affiliate Texas Legends from 2016-18 before heading overseas with Japan's Mikawa SeaHorses. The three-time All-West Coast Conference honoree and league Player of the Year in 2016 also played briefly for the Salt Lake City Stars in 2019.

That Mavs/Jazz game was super good today! Nothing like a good NBA playoff basketball game! #NBAPlayoffs2022
— Kyle Collinsworth (@collinsworth55) April 24, 2022

There was no surprise from Clarkson, though — even at Mitchell's lob to Gobert, who finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds while keeping the Jazz in the game down the stretch of what Clarkson called a "must-win" game." "That's what he do," he said, "plain and simple."

📹| "That's what he do, plain and simple."#WalkoffInterview | @lhmauto pic.twitter.com/q3FBbFxMxD
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 05:23 pm

Mitchell's lob to Gobert ties series at 2-2 with 100-99 win

Luke Doncic, meet Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.Mitchell poured in 23 points and seven assists, including the game-winning lob to Rudy Gobert, as the Utah Jazz rallied for a 100-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the best-of-seven series Saturday afternoon at Vivint Arena.Gobert finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz, but none more impactful than the alley-oop he finished from Mitchell in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.Doncic had with a game-high 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in his first game of the series after recovering from a calf strain, and Jalen Brunson added 23 points and five rebounds.Jordan Clarkson, who scored a team-high 25 points, gave Utah an 87-86 edge by pouring in six-straight with 5:35 remaining.The headlines belonged to Doncic, whose driving floater followed by a stepback 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining helped Dallas to a 99-95 advantage with 39 seconds remaining.But the game belonged to Utah, after Mitchell's and-one play with 31 seconds to go set up the game-winning play.Read more here.

what's better than this pic.twitter.com/YM9yo4fsVv
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 04:34 pm

Mavs rain 3s to take lead into 4th

Dallas found the range in the third quarter, and the Jazz have some work to do.The Mavericks were 8 of 10 from deep in the third quarter as they stormed back to take an 81-78 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith both scored 11 points in the quarter as Dallas outscored Utah by 15.It wasn't all bad news for Utah fans: The Jazz did actually respond to an early third quarter run that cut Utah's 12-point halftime lead to 1 five minutes into the quarter.The Jazz were able to open their lead back up to 8 before the Mavericks rained down 3s to take the lead.Donovan Mitchell had 0 points on 0-of-4 shooting in the quarter.

Saturday, 04:27 pm

Mavs are heating up

4 STRAIGHT THREES FROM DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH AND JALEN BRUNSON.

MAVERICKS TAKE THE LEAD ON TNT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Mj31UBW7rN
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 03:46 pm

Jazz take double-digit lead into halftime

After trailing for all but the final minute of the first quarter, the Jazz sure didn't want to give up the lead in the second stanza.Donovan Mitchell stretched the lead to double digits 36-28 with a floater off the dribble midway through the second quarter, and Utah pulled ahead for a 54-42 halftime lead.The Jazz held former "Jazz killer" Jalen Brunson to just 3-of-10 shooting for 12 points, including 0 for 3 from the 3-point line and 6-of-7 foul shooting.Luka Doncic scored 12 points to lead the Mavericks, who shot just 31% from the field int he first half.Mitchell led all scorers with 17 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 10 points — including a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left that sent the gold shirt-clad crowd into a frenzy.Jordan Clarkson supplied 12 points off the bench for Utah, which outrebounded the Mavericks 36-23.

we can all agree,,,,,, pic.twitter.com/2dZtyRI6n3
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 03:28 pm

A different energy level so far in Game 4

Never seen a guy dive for a backdoor pass that hasn't even been thrown. Bojan is amped up pic.twitter.com/VnqIKkTtOK

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 03:27 pm

JC for 3

Choose a favorite photo of Sixx? We simply ✨cannot✨ pic.twitter.com/PBFWiB6bJq
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 03:10 pm

Jazz lead after first quarter

It was clear early, the Jazz would need to generate their own energy on Saturday afternoon. The atmosphere leading up to tip off was probably among the worst in Jazz playoff history. There were plenty of empty seats, fans half-heartedly cheered introductions and there was just no buzz. It felt like a game in the middle of January, not one that could define a season.By the end of the first, though, the Jazz fans had found their voices.Jordan Clarkson hit a 3 with 5 seconds left in the first quarter to give Utah an early 24-23.Utah's offense looked the best it has all series — but that didn't always lead to points.Mike Conley missed two easy floaters, Bojan Bogdanovic missed two open 3, and that was the trend for most of the quarter. The Jazz generated open looks, but couldn't knock them down.Jazz shot 8 of 20 and were 3 of 8 from the 3-point line. Those eight attempts are a good sign, though, considering Utah has yet to attempt 30 or more 3s in the series.Donovan Mitchell had 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting to lead the Jazz.Luka Doncic had 7 points and 3 rebounds for Dallas in his first quarter of the series.

Saturday, 02:58 pm

🕷 💣

The @utahjazz swing it to Spida for 3!

3-point game late in Q1 on TNT pic.twitter.com/TY1JanvIwr
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 02:49 pm

Is Luka Doncic back?

In his first possession this postseason, Luka Doncic throws a perfect lob to Dwight Powell!

Dallas, Utah Game 4 underway on TNT pic.twitter.com/W4oBjcuNFn
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 01:31 pm

If the Jazz can't stop the Mavs, maybe they can outscore them

The Mavericks have been able to go up 2-1 in the series without Luka Doncic playing a game due to their ability to penetrate into the lane."We shoot over 50% when the ball touches the paint," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said.That's on all shots — floaters, attempts at the rim, and drive-and-kick 3s. If the ball gets inside, the Jazz's defense has been toast.So is there an answer?Ahead of Game 4, Quin Snyder laid out some things the Jazz can do to try and limit Jalen Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie and now Luka Doncic's drives to the paint."If we give up middle, we basically create a situation that's a lot like a fast break," Snyder said. "There's no rotation when the ball gets to the middle of the lane. If we can keep the ball more directional, we have an opportunity to rotate.""To the extent we can drop our pickup points and really shift over even further to try to deter those drives, that's something that hopefully can impact them," Snyder said.While that might help limit drives, it could open up pull-up 3s, which Brunson regularly hit in Dallas' Game 2 win. Oh, and then there's the fact Doncic is tall enough to initiate offense everywhere on the court.In the end, it's simple: The Jazz need to stay in front of guys; something every single one of their perimeter players have struggled to do so far in the series.So it was telling that as Snyder was talking about the defense's fixes that needed to happen, he quickly transitioned to talking about Utah's offense."We need to score, so it's good to see his breakout a little bit scoring last game," Snyder said.If the Jazz can't stop them, they'll have to outscore them.

Saturday, 01:03 pm

Kidd makes it official: Doncic is back

About 90 minutes before tipoff, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd made it official: Luka Doncic will play in Game 4.When asked if Doncic will be on a minutes restriction, Kidd replied, semi-jokingly, "Well, he's not going to play the whole game. Less than 48 minutes."Doncic has been doing full-speed basketball for most of the past week, including five-on-five sessions Thursday and Friday, while he recovers from a left calf strain suffered near the end of the regular season. He hasn't played in the first three games of the series.The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Slovenian was seen warming up prior to Game 4 wearing a sleeve around his injured calf muscle.

Jason Kidd makes it official: Luka Doncic will play.

On a potential minute restriction: "He won't play all 48."
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) April 23, 2022

Saturday, 10:55 am

Mavs 'optimistic' Luka Doncic will play in Game 4

There is optimism that Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will play in Game 4 Saturday afternoon at Vivint Arena, according to a report from ESPN.Doncic, who has yet to play in the series against the Jazz due to a left calf strain, said Friday that he wasn't feeling any pain in the calf and that he was getting better everyday.Doncic has been doing full-speed basketball activity for much of the week and went through 5-on-5 sessions Thursday and Friday."Optimistic? That's a good word," Kidd said before Friday's practice regarding Doncic's Game 4 status. "I think when you look at what he's done up until this point, he's going in the right direction. He's listening to the medical (staff), he's doing all the work, there hasn't been any setbacks."According the ESPN report, Doncic will be on a minutes restriction if he does return in Game 4.

There's increasing optimism Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will play vs. Utah in Game 4 today, sources tell ESPN. The plan is that his minutes will be limited in his first game back since suffering a calf strain on April 10.