Seeing the first two possessions of the match, we were already telling ourselves that the evening was likely to be long for the Jazz. It was for this team, soundly beaten by 50 points (147-97). Since a much too soft John Collins couldn't decide to come off the screen in Derek Lively II, Luka Doncic found himself far too alone at 3-points.
The Slovenian converted his first missile of the evening, before doing it again, a few seconds later, in transition and from his team's logo. The Utah players were preparing to face the lightning of the man with the black headband, the main engine of the Texan offensive strike force.
Doncic in triple-double at halftime
A unleashed attack in which, in addition to Luka Doncic who further exploited his complicity in the “pick-and-roll” with Derek Lively, everyone sought to make the additional pass (37 assists for 7 lost balls). Like the very useful Dante Exum, author of an interception on a restart from the opposing team, before delivering a little gem pass behind the back to Derrick Jones.
After twelve minutes, Dallas already led by 11 points, having scored 40 points (40-29). The locals will not finish a quarter without scoring at least… 34 units. In addition to taking advantage of opposing ball losses to unleash a counterattack behind them, the Texans relied heavily on their strength: the 3-point shot.
The Slovenian, his perfect lieutenant Kyrie Irving, happier from afar than at the dunk (he missed some on his own in the third quarter, before converting another later), or Tim Hardaway all contributed to the 22 winning baskets scored.
We won't remember much from the Jazz's performance, still deprived of their best scorers Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson, and guided by the young Ochai Agbaji (21 points) who finished with a terrifying -47 when he was in play. None of the starters did better than -35…
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– An express triple-double! The Slovenian did not need to play in the fourth quarter. And for good reason, he had done the majority of the work in the first period, with already 29 points on the clock and a triple-double (10 and 10). “ I thought he was going to finish at 50 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists », exclaims Tim Hardaway Jr. On paper, that could have been the case, but the Texan playing master took his foot off the gas in the third quarter with certainly 11 additional points scored, but only one more pass. It was his 60th career triple-double, which allows him to pass Larry Bird for 9th place in league history in this category. It will be recalled that the former Celtics legend played 897 regular season games where this was Luka's 349th game.
– A near-record success. The Mavs had never scored so many points this season and within two points, they set a new franchise record (over 48 minutes). In the final minutes of play, they were 52 points ahead, it was one point less than the largest victory in their history, established in 2014 against the Sixers (123-70). On the Jazz side, it was the second worst defeat (tied) in their history, behind a 56-point loss (158-102) against Milwaukee which dates back to… March 1979. After the meeting, Will Hardy could talk about a ” absolutely terrible performance » from his players…
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
