Playoffs - R1 - G1 - Mavs vs Jazz (Sat. 1PM EST, ESPN)

[Dirk]

Preview, from nba.com

Three things to watch

1. Will Luka Doncic be too much to handle? The All-Star just put together an MVP-worthy season by leading the Mavericks in scoring, assists, rebounds (which was especially impressive, at 9.1) and steals, ranking among the league leaders in all categories. He also is masterful in exploiting isolation mismatches, and in the past, Dallas created switches to put Doncic on Rudy Gobert. Ordinarily this sounds insane, given Gobert’s defense, but the crafty Luka won those battles, By the way, Doncic is dealing with a calf injury, but has almost a week to rest.

2. Can Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell get along? The two All-Stars are saying all the right things, but there seems to be smoke if not fire between them, just going by body language (from Mitchell when Gobert fumbles a pass, from Gobert when he doesn’t get touches). Coach Quin Snyder pleaded for outsiders to refrain from breaking them apart, as if fans and media actually hold such power. In any event, winning cures all, and the best way to squelch all speculation is by winning a round or two and keep it moving.

3. What if Utah’s 3-point shots don’t fall? This has always been an issue with the Jazz, who rely on the long-ball more than most teams. When they’re efficient, they’re tough to beat. When they’re misfiring, the Jazz become unglued only because they lack the personnel and a system for a Plan B (no interior scoring, few players who can hit mid-range jumpers).

https://www.nba.com/news/series-preview-dallas-mavericks-4-vs-utah-jazz-5

[Archx]

What if Utah’s 3-point shots don’t fall? ... Well this is more of a question for Mavs team and not Utah. It will be hard to exploit Jazz height and rim protection without making 3pt shots. DFS and Bullock will be crucial next do Doncic, if they can make their shots, Jazz will be in trouble.

On the other hand i'm more worried about Clarkson than Mitchell. He's one of the best 6th man players of the past few years and if he gets hot he will score 20 points in a hurry.

Mavs do have secret weapons on the bench though. Bertans and Josh Green (the better laser ). They play hard every game and they are mostly positive when on the floor. But in playoffs that's not going to be enough. Mavs badly need scoring to come from different places since Luka is the lone star that you can rely on, so these two will have to continue making their shots on a high %.

Powell gives me little confidence that he can guard Gobert but he can at least be physical with him, so that's good. Just box out and rebound, rebound....rebound.

Now lets hope Luka is not seriously injured (even if he plays), and Dinwiddie/Brunson combo can provide enough help on offense.

[Dirk]

What if Utah’s 3-point shots don’t fall? ... Well this is more of a question for Mavs team and not Utah. It will be hard to exploit Jazz height and rim protection without making 3pt shots. DFS and Bullock will be crucial next do Doncic, if they can make their shots, Jazz will be in trouble.

On the other hand i'm more worried about Clarkson than Mitchell. He's one of the best 6th man players of the past few years and if he gets hot he will score 20 points in a hurry.

Mavs do have secret weapons on the bench though. Bertans and Josh Green (the better laser ). They play hard every game and they are mostly positive when on the floor. But in playoffs that's not going to be enough. Mavs badly need scoring to come from different places since Luka is the lone star that you can rely on, so these two will have to continue making their shots on a high %.

Powell gives me little confidence that he can guard Gobert but he can at least be physical with him, so that's good. Just box out and rebound, rebound....rebound.

Now lets hope Luka is not seriously injured (even if he plays), and Dinwiddie/Brunson combo can provide enough help on offense.

I've always enjoyed watching Bojan Bogdanović and he can be a problem.

Mavs now have a cocky guy Dinwiddie and a Brunson playing for big money... It feels like some of these guys would have to greatly disappoint for the Mavs not to take this series.

For the first time, it doesn't feel like there's a talent mismatch between the teams when compared to the Clippers series. On top of it, this season has seen this team do well in "playoff type" games. If it wasn't for the Luka calf thing, confidence would be sky high.

[41Dirk41]

This group has to demostrate that we can beat the Jazz even without Luka.

Go Mavs!!!!

[Archx]

What if Utah’s 3-point shots don’t fall? ... Well this is more of a question for Mavs team and not Utah. It will be hard to exploit Jazz height and rim protection without making 3pt shots. DFS and Bullock will be crucial next do Doncic, if they can make their shots, Jazz will be in trouble.

On the other hand i'm more worried about Clarkson than Mitchell. He's one of the best 6th man players of the past few years and if he gets hot he will score 20 points in a hurry.

Mavs do have secret weapons on the bench though. Bertans and Josh Green (the better laser ). They play hard every game and they are mostly positive when on the floor. But in playoffs that's not going to be enough. Mavs badly need scoring to come from different places since Luka is the lone star that you can rely on, so these two will have to continue making their shots on a high %.

Powell gives me little confidence that he can guard Gobert but he can at least be physical with him, so that's good. Just box out and rebound, rebound....rebound.

Now lets hope Luka is not seriously injured (even if he plays), and Dinwiddie/Brunson combo can provide enough help on offense.

I've always enjoyed watching Bojan Bogdanović and he can be a problem.

Mavs now have a cocky guy Dinwiddie and a Brunson playing for big money... It feels like some of these guys would have to greatly disappoint for the Mavs not to take this series.

For the first time, it doesn't feel like there's a talent mismatch between the teams when compared to the Clippers series. On top of it, this season has seen this team do well in "playoff type" games. If it wasn't for the Luka calf thing, confidence would be sky high.

That is true. Though Gobert is already giving me nightmares and we're still almost a week away from 1st game. It will be really interesting to see how Kidd and Luka will counter their height.

This group has to demostrate that we can beat the Jazz even without Luka.

Go Mavs!!!!

No Luka means that Jazz can just focus picking Mavs apart one by one. With Luka, Jazz have to throw double and triple teams at him. Luka creates missmatches and effectively sucks in perimeter defenses, which leaves 1 or 2 guys completely open. Without Luka, Jazz can just stay with their guys, cover the paint and focus on the 3pt shooters. I think it's highly unlikely that Mavs can win anything vs Jazz without him. Unless laser gets red hot then there is a chance (Josh Green i mean)

[BlueSan]

This will be a tough series. I especially think the Jazz are a bad match up. Gobert will dominate the paint every day.

No Luka = they lose
Luka = they at least have a chance

Jazz 4:2 is my guess

[Maverick41]

If no Luka for the 1st game or so (hopefully not more), Dinwiddie and Brunson both need to get, at the minimum, 20 pts each. Anything less and we stand no chance.

[spanishninja]

given the injury, I predict the Jazz to take a 20 point lead into the 4th quarter. You guys will win by 5.

[41Dirk41]

If no Luka for the 1st game or so (hopefully not more), Dinwiddie and Brunson both need to get, at the minimum, 20 pts each. Anything less and we stand no chance.

I think Luka will miss the first 2games, if we will win one of those we can pass the round.

[boogiezen]

When was the last time Dallas beat Utah in their home floor? Maybe during the prime of Dirk.

They need to shoot well and play hard defense. And hope that Mitchell will not go beastmode.

[Bob8]

When was the last time Dallas beat Utah in their home floor? Maybe during the prime of Dirk.

They need to shoot well and play hard defense. And hope that Mitchell will not go beastmode.

I believe we should look at this series as Luka not playing. It looks very optimistic that he can be ready for game 3 and 4. That basically means game 1 might decide this series already, Mavs have to win opener and than with positive energy try to steal game 2 too. Returning with 2:2 from Utah, with more realistic chances for Luka to play in last games of the series would be huge. Losing first game on the other hand, might be game over already.

[HMFFL]

With Luka out game one we will see who steps up. It's going to make for an interesting matchup

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[Mavrelous]

9 hours till tipoff.
Ntilikina is out, so that's another guard out, so expect Burke minutes.
Brunson (36)/Burke(12)
Dinwiddie (36)/Green(12)
Bullock (36)/Bertans(6)/Green(6)
DFS (36)/Bertans(12)
Powell( 20)/Maxi (28)

Powell will probabely no share the floor with Green, Bertans is a dark horse, if his shot is falling we must use him as small 5 to keep Gobert guessing.
To imitate Clippers lineup that had a huge success against the Jazz
Brunson -- Reggie Jackson
PG13 -- Dinwiddie
Mann -- Bullock
Batum -- DFS
Maxi -- Morris

[Bob8]

Problem for Mavs is, how can you replace 30 unassisted Luka's points and 10 assists. Luka is basically generating 55+ points by himself. Brunson and Dinwiddie can maybe take care half of those points in a good day, but what about other half? Mavs to win need,

- Great Brunson and Dinwiddie
- Great shooting day from role players
- Good D
- Jazz struggling with shooting

Problem is, they need all this things together.

I hear a lot how have Jazz struggled a lot. They did, especially in closing games. But people forget that they had the best offensive rating in the league nonetheless. Mavs will somehow have to stop their offense and have great offense by themselves to even come in position to take advantage of Jazz struggle in the clutch.

[arkuo]

Problem for Mavs is, how can you replace 30 unassisted Luka's points and 10 assists. Luka is basically generating 55+ points by himself. Brunson and Dinwiddie can maybe take care half of those points in a good day, but what about other half? Mavs to win need,

- Great Brunson and Dinwiddie
- Great shooting day from role players
- Good D
- Jazz struggling with shooting

Problem is, they need all this things together.

I hear a lot how have Jazz struggled a lot. They did, especially in closing games. But people forget that they had the best offensive rating in the league nonetheless. Mavs will somehow have to stop their offense and have great offense by themselves to even come in position to take advantage of Jazz struggle in the clutch.

No need to overthink. At this point, they don't even have to play to win. Just play to get the guys playoff experience. Anything else is just a bonus.

A more complete team will be assembled next season with a bigger center and a full training camp for Dinwiddie and Bertans. Pretty sure even Nico is surprised they are #4 in the west now after the trade. That was unexpected.

[Mavrelous]

Dinwiddie and Brunson combined for 60 points and 13 assists against the Kings.
Luka isn't THJ, you can't just replace him, but Jazz are a fragile team mentally, Dinwiddie has a chip on his shoulder, Brunson is looking for his big pay day and biggest question about him is his PO performance, Maxi is well rested, who knows? 2 of DFS, Bullock and Bertans catch fire and we have a ball game.

[41Dirk41]

Our 3s are the key.

Keep calm and feed the laser.

[Dirk]

It's hard to believe the bad luck with this thing. Getting hurt on the final game of the season.

It's the third season with bad luck:

- Luka hurt
- Play Clippers with Kawhi, goes out next series
- KP goes out

You can argue we may be looking at three 1st round exits* that likely wouldn't happen if "luck" had gone Mavs way.

Can only hope Brunson and Dinwiddie score enough and game is close.

*this injury situation is setting the stage for either the Mavs other guys beating the Jazz or Luka returning and climbing out of a hole. Fingers crossed.

Dinwiddie and Brunson combined for 60 points and 13 assists against the Kings.
Luka isn't THJ, you can't just replace him, but Jazz are a fragile team mentally, Dinwiddie has a chip on his shoulder, Brunson is looking for his big pay day and biggest question about him is his PO performance, Maxi is well rested, who knows? 2 of DFS, Bullock and Bertans catch fire and we have a ball game.

Speaking of THJr, when is he coming back?

[Archx]

Dinwiddie and Brunson combined for 60 points and 13 assists against the Kings.
Luka isn't THJ, you can't just replace him, but Jazz are a fragile team mentally, Dinwiddie has a chip on his shoulder, Brunson is looking for his big pay day and biggest question about him is his PO performance, Maxi is well rested, who knows? 2 of DFS, Bullock and Bertans catch fire and we have a ball game.

Let's just hope Brunson or Dinwddie don't get tired or in foul trouble. You get left with only one and you're done. Also, i don't think you can compare Kings to Utah with an healthy Gobert

Problem for Mavs is, how can you replace 30 unassisted Luka's points and 10 assists. Luka is basically generating 55+ points by himself

51 points per

[Bob8]

Dinwiddie and Brunson combined for 60 points and 13 assists against the Kings.
Luka isn't THJ, you can't just replace him, but Jazz are a fragile team mentally, Dinwiddie has a chip on his shoulder, Brunson is looking for his big pay day and biggest question about him is his PO performance, Maxi is well rested, who knows? 2 of DFS, Bullock and Bertans catch fire and we have a ball game.

And even 60/13 might not be enough.

Jazz had bad ending of the season, but we have to be realistic here, Mavs without Luka winning more than 1 game in this series will be huge success.

Problem with those role players is, that quality of good looks will go significantly down, because nobody will get attention Luka gets. Bertans is the only one, who can basically shoot whenever he wants, because of his range and quick release.

I believe Mavs best chance is today, but everything will have to go their way.