Utah Jazz at Dallas Mavericks
Team Totals: Jazz 107.5, Mavs 102
Injury Report: Luka Doncic (O, calf)
Jazz projected starters: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert
Mavs projected starters: Spencer Dinwiddie, Jalen Brunson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell
Offensive Ranks: Jazz 1st, Mavericks 12th (Mavs 2nd in halfcourt, Jazz 4th)
Defensive Ranks: Jazz 9th, Mavs 8th (Jazz 6th in halfcourt, Mavs 11th)
Season Series: 2-2
Noteworthy Missed Games: Rudy Gobert (1), Bojan Bogdanovic (1), Luka Doncic (1), Spencer Dinwiddie (1), Reggie Bullock (1), Jalen Brunson (1)
Snyder quotes: Said the struggles from this season should have helped them grow for this playoff run, said losing Trent Forrest is a bigger loss than people realize.
Kidd quotes: Didn’t have much of an update on Luka and said it helps they won’t have to travel for Game 1.
Stats and Notes:
*The Dallas starting lineup has been one of the best lineups in basketball with a +14.1 net rating in their 367 minutes together. The Utah starters were not quite as dominant as they were this year, but still managed a +6.7 net rating in 666 minutes (third highest in the league). The Mavs have some solid depth, but of course that takes a massive hit with Luka Doncic’s status in doubt.
*The Jazz love their PNR O, as they’ve led the league in PNR handler possessions, which is an area the Mavs can defend very well. The Jazz bomb 3-pointers with a league-high 43.3% of shots coming from deep, but the Mavs have been very good at limiting 3-pointers this season — they slipped a bit late, though. The Jazz have one of the best rim-protecting teams in the league, but the Mavs have no interest in scoring at the basket with a 29th-ranked 27.2% of shots coming at the rim (Suns last, 25.3%). The Mavs have no interest in playing with pace at a dead-last 15.5 seconds per possession this year while the Jazz are also slow at 14.8 (23rd). This should be a grind-it-out series, but obviously it’s largely dependent on Luka’s availability.
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