Jazz Game 5 blog: Luka Doncic ruled the day, and the Mavs close to series win

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DALLAS — After Utah's improbable Game 4 win, the Jazz and Mavericks return to Dallas for Monday's Game 5 (7:30 p.m. MDT, TNT), with the series knotted at two games a piece.

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Monday, 10:11 pm

The run that never came

Jordan Clarkson wanted a piece of the Luka magic to start the fourth quarter and scored 8 of the Jazz's first 10 points of the final period. It wasn't enough, however, with the established lead more than securing the 102-77 Dallas win in Game 5.Clarkson finished with a team-high 20 points for Utah, a lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing and borderline embarrassing performance for the Jazz after tying the series up at 2-2.Utah stayed cold from 3-point range all the way through the final frame, bottoming out with a 10% shooting clip from deep, making just 3 of its 30 attempts. The starting lineup went 1 of 20 from the 3-point line.Doncic finished the night with 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists; while his backcourt buddy Jalen Brunson put up a respectable 24 points himself.Donovan Mitchell's tough night ended with an early exit due to an apparent hamstring injury. He finished with 9 points on 4-of-15 shooting and 0 of 7 from deep. He had a game-low -38 in plus/minus.Rudy Gobert put up a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley combined for just 6 points.Both coaches elected to put in the reserve units with around three minutes to go as the game was all but decided.

Monday, 09:44 pm

Add this to the list of things that aren't good for the Jazz

Luka Doncic scored as many points (19) as the Jazz did in the 3rd quarter. pic.twitter.com/fKaqVNc3dM

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 26, 2022

Monday, 09:31 pm

Luka Doncic might have already put the dagger in Game 5

There were a lot of plays in the third quarter that summed up the Utah Jazz's night.Donovan Mitchell air-balled a layup, Rudy Gobert lost a jump ball to Dorian Finney-Smith, Bojan Bogdanovic finally saw a 3-pointer go in — only for it to be taken off the board because Royce O'Neale committed an offensive foul away from the play.And then there was all the shots made by Luka Doncic. Suffice it to say, the Dallas superstar is all the way back.Doncic hit three step-back 3-pointers on his way to a 19-point third quarter that gave Dallas an 81-55 lead after the third quarter.The Jazz had an improbable comeback at the end of Game 4; it would take a major miracle for them to do the same thing in Game 5.The Jazz shot 35% from the field and a near-embarrassing 13% from deep.Want more bad stats? The Mavs are winning the rebound battle by seven, Utah has yet to score 20 points in a quarter and Mitchell has just 2 points since the first quarter.Actually, you'd be hard pressed to find anything positive.

Monday, 08:52 pm

Utah just had its worst offensive half of the season

Per @ESPNStatsInfo, that's the lowest-scoring half for the Jazz this season — regular season or playoffs.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 26, 2022

Monday, 08:46 pm

Mavs widen the gap in second quarter

The Jazz could only keep it close for so long, as Dallas came alive in the second quarter to take a 52-36 lead at the half.Jalen Brunson returned to his early-series form to join Luka Doncic in a deadly dual attack, slicing up the Jazz defense for crafty layups and saucy dimes.Brunson led all scorers with 13 points after two quarters, looking very much like the dynamo that exploded for 72 points across Games 2 and 3.Dorian Finney-Smith continued his role as the unsung hero of the Dallas offense, hitting a trio of 3s to match Brunson's 13 points.Doncic took care of pretty much everything else, putting up nine rebounds and four assists in his first half of playoff basketball in front of Mavs fans this postseason.The Jazz were led by Jordan Clarkson with 10 points, shooting just 35% from the field and 12% from three in the opening half.Utah went scoreless for over six minutes at the end of the second quarter before Jordan Clarkson hit a couple buckets in the final seconds.

Monday, 08:48 pm

Doncic beats Gobert

Luka put the moves on Gobert 👀 pic.twitter.com/DkqlaUHjUs

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 26, 2022

Monday, 08:31 pm

Brunson continues to dissect Jazz defense

Jalen Brunson is still giving the Jazz defense fits with his fancy footwork, even with star point guard Luka Doncic returning and taking most of the ball-handling duties.

Pump fake. Step-through. 🏀

Great move in the paint by Jalen Brunson!#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on TNT pic.twitter.com/dTjO0uuxFc

— NBA (@NBA) April 26, 2022

Monday, 08:17 pm

Jazz struggle from the field early in Game 5

The bad news: The Jazz couldn't make a shot. Utah went 6 of 20 from the field and 0 for 7 from deep in the first quarter of Game 5.The good news: They kept in contact with the Mavericks.Dallas led 24-18 after the first quarter, due mostly to Utah's inability to make some pretty good looks.Of course, there were times when Dallas forced a bad possession — Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley both found themselves trapped in the corner with the clock shot winding down — but mostly it was Utah missing.Mitchell, who was 3 of 6 from the field (all three misses were from the 3-point line), was the only Jazz player to make more than one shot.Conley skied a layup up and over the rim, and Hassan Whiteside missed a bunch of bunnies in the paint, going 1 of 4.Utah's saving grace was it got to the free-throw line, but the team even struggled making those. The Jazz were 6 of 10 from the line in the first quarter.Mitchell led the Jazz with 7 points. Dwight Powell had 8 for the Mavericks in the quarter. Luka Doncic was limited to 2 points on 1-for-4 shooting and had three turnovers.

Spida spins and scores + the foul 😤 pic.twitter.com/uu1Jkcp4zo

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 26, 2022

Monday, 08:00 pm

Another slow start by Utah

The Jazz have not been great to start games this series, as Deseret News reporter Ryan McDonald pointed out here:

The Jazz are averaging 7.4 points in the first six minutes of games this series

— Ryan McDonald (@ryanwmcdonald) April 26, 2022Utah had just 8 points in the first six minutes of Game 5.

Monday, 07:00 pm

Are L2M reports useful? Snyder and Kidd weigh in

The Utah Jazz pulled off an improbable win on Saturday in Game 4.The Jazz became only the fifth team in the last 10 postseasons to come back from a 4-point or greater deficit in the final 40 seconds of a game, according to ESPN.The combined record for teams in that situation is now 5-701. If you're a Mavericks fan, you certainly think it should be 4-702, especially after the league's referee report came out on Sunday.The NBA's last-two-minute report revealed a missed offensive foul on Donovan Mitchell that, if called, would have changed the game.With 33 seconds left to play, Mitchell drove to the hoop and went into Dallas center Dwight Powell, sending him flying backward to the floor. The report said it should have been a foul; a foul there would have negated the game-turning 3-point play by Mitchell immediately after.So are the last-two-minutes reports useful?"I think the last-two-minute report is to make sure that they do get it right; that the public can see that they're trying to be open about what happens," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. "But there's nothing you can do. The game is over, we move forward, and we focus on Game 5. There will be a two-minute report that comes out after this game. One team will be happy, one team won't; that's just the nature of this. So I guess the answer to your question, we were not paying attention to the last-two-minute report."Jazz coach Quin Snyder said they are about transparency and that all teams have been on the wrong side of them."My personal feeling, it's the league and the teams are just saying: 'Hey, we're gonna be transparent about this game,'" Snyder said. "And understand that everybody's imperfect — players miss shots, a referee might miss a call. I think everybody's been on both sides. There are certain games you feel the impact more than others, but If you extended it to three minutes, you may get something different."We always say it's not the last play of the game that cost you the game, it's the whole course of the game. There's a lot to it. If it's something you can learn from, you take it; if it's something that can motivate you, I don't really have a great answer for that."

Monday, 02:17 pm

Gobert says Mavs should be 'happy' with officiating after teams trade barbs over calls

The Jazz and Mavericks tried to work the refs a bit Monday morning.Utah had a sizable advantage in free throws during Game 4, going to the line 19 more times than Dallas, as the Mavericks were whistled with eight more fouls.Clearly unhappy about the foul disparity, Dallas coach Jason Kidd had this to say during Dallas' Monday morning shootaround."Some of those fouls are trying to block out (Rudy) Gobert," Kidd said Monday, per ESPN. "We're trying to figure out what the ruling is on boxing out and then teach our players what the correct way of boxing out is."Kidd is a hall of famer and a member of the league's 75th anniversary team — it stands to reason he would know the rules. So those comments were a clear message to the league's officials that he didn't think the officiating was even in Game 4.And Dallas has an official report to point to prove at least one missed call.The NBA last-two-minute report for Game 4 said Donovan Mitchell should have been called for an offensive foul on his drive to the basket with 33 seconds left in the contest. That drive ultimately resulted in a 3-point play and was critical in Utah's comeback in the game's final minute."That's just part of the game. They're trying to get it right. The referees got a hard job. It's hard to see things happen so fast and blow the whistle. … You can be upset, but you've got to move forward," Kidd said per ESPN.That missed call aside, Gobert thought it was about time the Jazz got some whistles down low."Their whole game plan is to hit me on every rebound," he said Monday. "You got guys trying to box me out with the elbows out and stuff like that; grabbing me. It's their game plan."Gobert claimed that in Utah's Game 3 loss — when he had just seven rebounds and no offensive boards — Dallas was allowed to get away with all those tactics without penalty. So he said it was a nice change to see those fouls come in Game 4. Dallas center Maxi Kleber fouled out in just 18 minutes."I didn't get none of those calls (in Game 3) and any time I was doing anything illegal, I was getting the foul. So I didn't think it was fair," Gobert said. "In Game 4, I got a few — not all of them — but I got a few of those calls."As for the Mavericks' comments on the officiating, Gobert thinks they should be the team "happy" with how the series has been called."They allow them to do a lot more than what we're supposed to do. So I think they should be happy with that," Gobert said.

Monday, 11:30 am

Rudy Gobert says fine was worth it — and, yes, he likes the shirts

Rudy Gobert said the fine he received Sunday for using a less-than-family-friendly word during his walk-off interview on TNT following Utah's thrilling Game 4 win could be worth it.Gobert was asked about all the negative talk surrounding the Jazz, especially between he and teammate Donovan Mitchell.His response? "(expletive) the talk.""We've been warned," Gobert said. "So it's on me to not use that language. I hope it goes to the Rudy Foundation (Gobert's charity), so we can do some good things with it."The money that comes from NBA fines are donated to charities; but even without that, Gobert said the remark could prove to be worth it."I think hearing all the talk surrounding our team, if you have to get a little fine to shut that down, it's worth it," Gobert said.It's already served as a rallying cry for many on the fan base, with at least one prominent fan creating a shirt with the censored saying (the proceeds for those will go to the Rudy Foundation).And, yes, Gobert has seen the shirts."I like them," he said. "I might get a few actually."

Jazz Game 5 blog: Luka Doncic ruled the day, and the Mavs close to series win

By Ryan Miller and Caleb Turner, KSL.com | Updated - April 25, 2022 at 10:17 p.m. | Posted - April 25, 2022 at 11:48 a.m.

The run that never came

Add this to the list of things that aren't good for the Jazz

Luka Doncic might have already put the dagger in Game 5

Utah just had its worst offensive half of the season

Mavs widen the gap in second quarter

Doncic beats Gobert

Brunson continues to dissect Jazz defense

Jazz struggle from the field early in Game 5

Another slow start by Utah

Are L2M reports useful? Snyder and Kidd weigh in

Gobert says Mavs should be 'happy' with officiating after teams trade barbs over calls

Rudy Gobert says fine was worth it — and, yes, he likes the shirts

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Jazz Game 5 blog: Luka Doncic ruled the day, and the Mavs close to series win

By Ryan Miller and Caleb Turner, KSL.com | Updated - April 25, 2022 at 10:17 p.m. | Posted - April 25, 2022 at 11:48 a.m.

The run that never came

Add this to the list of things that aren't good for the Jazz

Luka Doncic might have already put the dagger in Game 5

Utah just had its worst offensive half of the season

Mavs widen the gap in second quarter

Doncic beats Gobert

Brunson continues to dissect Jazz defense

Jazz struggle from the field early in Game 5

Another slow start by Utah

Are L2M reports useful? Snyder and Kidd weigh in

Gobert says Mavs should be 'happy' with officiating after teams trade barbs over calls

Rudy Gobert says fine was worth it — and, yes, he likes the shirts

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