Utah Jazz @ Dallas Mavericks
Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 8:30 PM ET
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX | Game ID: 22301008
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DAL 26 27 30 30 113UTA 27 15 31 24 97
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Luka Doncic leads Mavericks past Jazz, 113-97, into 6th place in West
DALLAS -- — Luka Doncic had 34 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 113-97 on Thursday night to move into the sixth and final guaranteed playoff position in the Western Conference.
Dallas won its third straight and seventh in eight games. The Mavericks and Phoenix — a winner at home late Thursday night over Atlanta — are both 41-29, but the Mavericks hold the tiebreaker over the Suns. Sacramento is a half-game behind.
Doncic, who has 18 triple-doubles this season, didn’t have a rebound or an assist in the fourth quarter, playing four minutes. He shot 11 of 23 from the floor, 4 of 10 on 3s.
Daniel Gafford added 24 points, his high game since being acquired in early February, on 10 of 11 shooting. Gafford went into play leading the NBA shooting 70.8%.
“He has great hands,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said about Gafford. “His ability to finish in traffic is something we haven’t had.”
Gafford missed the second half of the second quarter after crumpling to the court and being helped to the locker room, then returned to start the second half.
Kyrie Irving scored 16 points, 11 in the second half.
The Mavericks had 33 assists, four off their season high compiled in their 147-97 win over the Jazz at home on Dec. 6.
“Guys are being very unselfish, and it’s really fun to watch and be a part of,” Kidd said.
The Jazz were swept in a road back-to-back, losing at Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, and have lost four consecutive games and 15 of 18. They’re eight games out of play-in qualification with 12 games left.
Lauri Markkanen led Utah with 21 points after missing the previous seven games because of a quadriceps injury. Collin Sexton added 20 off the bench for his sixth straight game of at least 20 points.
Dallas led by 19 points after trailing by seven 2 1/2 minutes in. The Mavericks outscored the Jazz 27-15 in the second quarter to lead 53-42 with Utah shooting 31.6% in the period, 0 for 9 from deep, and committing seven turnovers.
Utah shot 4 of 30 from 3 overall, Markkanen going 1 of 9.
“It was a really tough night shooting the ball,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Credit to Dallas. That’s a really good team.”
Doncic came off what Kidd called a “human game” in which the sixth-year superstar had a triple-double but hit only 6 of 27 field-goal attempts in scoring 18 points for his lowest total since mid-November.
The Jazz were missing Jordan Clarkson , their No. 3 scorer. He sat out his fifth straight game because of a groin injury. The Mavericks played without Josh Green , who missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle.
UP NEXT
Jazz: At Houston on Saturday night.
Mavericks: At Utah on Monday night to begin a five-game road trip.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
UTABS B. Sensabaugh
CS C. Sexton
JJ J. Juzang
KD K. Dunn
KG K. George
KL K. Lewis Jr.
LM L. Markkanen
MP M. Potter
OY O. Yurtseven
TH T. Hendricks
WK W. Kessler
DALAL A. Lawson
DE D. Exum
DG D. Gafford
DJ D. Jones Jr.
DL D. Lively II
DP D. Powell
DO Doncic
JH J. Hardy
KI K. Irving
LD L. Dončić
MK M. Kleber
PW P. Washington
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
UTA/DAL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur