The position after Game 5 could hardly be better for the Dallas Mavericks, with only one win left to reach the second round of the playoffs. In the blow against Utah, Luka Doncic finally wipes away all worries about his fold. But the real star of the game is somewhere else. Insight into the game.
1. Mavs vs. Jazz: Who should stop this backcourt duo?
The Jazz probably feared that such a thing would happen after Luka Doncic returned. Even in the first three games without Mavs Superstar, the perimeter defense was one reason two games went wrong. During his comeback in the fourth duel, Utah still benefited from the fact that a lot went wrong for Dallas. But now Utah was hopelessly inferior to the Mavs backfield.
Jazz fans should look away for a moment as we compare the numbers for the two starting backs. Doncic and Jalen Brunson are on one side with a total of 57 points and 9 assists – and on the other side are Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley with 13 points and 6 assists. Again, these are the cumulative numbers.
The Mavs duo managed to separate their opponents’ defense almost at will. Bojan Bogdanovic, who also took on the biggest defensive burden against Doncic in match 4, was mostly lost. In 57.5 possessions, which Bogdanovic defended against the Slovenes in games 4 and 5, Dallas scored 68 points for an offensive rating of 118.3.
Things did not look much better for Utah when Doncic and Brunson attacked the other perimeter defenders, be it Mitchell, Conley, Jordan Clarkson or Royce O’Neale. All too often, the Mavs guards found their way into the zone via dribble penetration, where they either do not be afraid of agreements against Rudy Gobert had or put it to Dwight Powell for light dunks, for example. The latter had three dunks and a layup in the early minutes.
This scene towards the end of the game showed how easy Dallas sometimes was when Brunson simply pushed his defender Conley away and scored two easy points with a bank shot. His performance not only earned him a big off-season payday, but gave him MVP status in Game 5 – and he did not even want to drop the three (1/7).
Doncic was also not in rhythm at a distance for a long time until all the dams broke in the third quarter. He lowered three threes in quick succession (his only in the game at 3/10), unpacked the shimmy shake and let the party in Dallas escalate completely. “It was amazing. You can’t describe such feelings,” the 23-year-old said. “The whole arena cheers on your team, it’s amazing.”
It should give the Jazz some headaches on the drive back to Salt Lake City that Dallas won by 25 points despite the Texans scoring only 27.9 percent overall from Downtown. But Utah found no means against the drives from Doncic and Co. into the zone – just like almost the entire series.
2. Luka Doncic: Get rid of the problem doctor
A little history lesson next: Doncic has now played 15 playoff games under his belt in his young career, with 499 points scored, he shot up to 5th place among the best playoff scorers of all time in the first 15 appearances. His ninth and tenth performances of 30+ points came after his injury, which cost him the first three games. But the problem calf seems to be fine.
This was confirmed not only by the performances shown, but also by Doncic himself at the press conference: “I felt great. In the first match after the injury, I felt a little inferior.” There was really no reason for that after game 5.
Coach Jason Kidd, however, has yet to send Doncic to his usual rotation. In the regular season, he usually played the entire first quarter through, and in his first two playoff appearances, he was on the bench after about eight minutes. However, it seems pretty heck close to 100 percent.
“In his second game, it looks like he’s going to play the whole series,” Coach Kidd said. “His condition, his use of defense or rebounds. In this respect, he is one of the best with us, and he showed that today.”
In fact, Dallas had trouble rebounding against Gobert for much of the series, but Doncic’s rebounding abilities (13 rebounds) helped, it was not a factor in Game 5. And the 33 points were obviously not bad either.