Doncic’s back and the Mavs take the series lead over the Jazz
The Mavericks took a 3-2 series lead over the Jazz last night as Luka Doncic put up 33 points in his second playoff game after his injury.
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks never let the Utah Jazz within reach of the game on Monday, which they won by a long-shot, 102-77. There was even a six-minute period in the second quarter when the Jazz didn’t score at all and the Mavs went on a 22-4 run. Doncic, who missed the first three games of the series, put up 33 points and 13 rebounds playing in 33 minutes of the game.
The crowd went wild for Doncic. In the first half, Doncic drove the ball down the court and to the rim, stopping and faking out Rudy Gobert various times before finally hitting a reverse layup off the glass.
“It’s been incredible. Everyone was on their feet, everyone was yelling,” Doncic said. “It helped us a lot the whole game.”
In the third quarter, Doncic wowed yet again, hitting two consecutive threes, the first to give the Mavs a 74-46 lead and then another to put them up 79-46, giving the fans a little shimmy to make the cheers even louder.
With Doncic out the previous three games, it was Jalen Brunson who made up for most of that loss. In the Mavericks’ game five win over the Jazz, Brunson was responsible for 24 points.
The Mavericks will play game 6 in Utah. If they win it, it will make their first time getting to the second round of playoffs since 2011, when they won the championship.
“It’s a little different from last year because we’re playing away,” said Doncic. Last year, the Mavs lost games 6 and 7 to the LA Clippers after having a 3-2 lead. “But we have to play. Utah has a really good team so we have to be prepared for the next one.”
“But we are confident that we can play as well in the next game,” said Doncic.