Still without Luka Doncic, but also without Klay Thompson and Dante Exum, the Mavericks are starting their meeting in Utah perfectly. Kyrie Irving opens the hostilities from afar and the skill of Quentin Grimes allows Dallas to quickly pull away. A 3-pointer from Spencer Dinwiddie even puts Dallas at +20 (40-20)!
The Texan euphoria then calms down, however, with Naji Marshall struggling and who, ill, will have to leave his place, which finally allows Utah to play at a fast pace which suits them better. Little by little, Will Hardy's men are catching up. Coming back to 49-56 at halftime, they are still trailing, but are only two possessions behind (82-87) in the middle of the last quarter…
Jason Kidd therefore calls for a time-out and Kyrie Irving decides to give it a try to avoid the worst.
The former Cavaliers, Celtics and Nets scorer scores a 3-pointer before stealing a ball and breaking away on the counter-attack to serve Quentin Grimes. “Uncle Drew” receives support from Daniel Gafford and Spencer Dinwiddie and the sequence turns into 13-4 to validate the victory (106-94). This is the third in a row for Dallas.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Quentin Grimes keeps showing up. The former Knicks takes advantage of the absences to show everything he can bring to Dallas. Kyrie Irving's first offensive support, he signed his best offensive game of the season, with 24 points at 9/16 shooting including 5/11 from afar. His outside skill but also his aggressiveness towards the circle did the Mavericks good, despite his astonishing 1/6 on the free throw line…
– Kyrie Irving accelerates when necessary. While the Jazz could hope for the hold-up, the Dallas All-Star gave the necessary boost in the fourth quarter to validate this success.
– Fourth victory in five games without Luka Doncic. What if the Slovenian's injury had been a blessing in disguise in Dallas? Without their omnipotent leader, the Mavericks relied on their collective and other values to string together four successes in the last five games. And move up the Western rankings.
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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.
