Doncic Doubtful For Game Two As Jazz Look For Road Sweep
Apr 17, 2022, 4:31 PM | Updated: 4:33 pm
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert dunks the ball (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead when they face the Dallas Mavericks in game two of their first-round playoff series.
The Jazz won game one 99-93 against a shorthanded Mavericks team who was playing without superstar Luka Doncic due to a calf strain suffered in Dallas’s regular season finale.
Doncic is listed as doubtful for game two.
The @utahjazz credited trust in one another for their game one victory over the @dallasmavs.
"We’ve got to put our ego on the side and trust each other, especially in these moments in the playoffs, we are here because we are a good team.”#TakeNote https://t.co/fGJ5OmSHKl
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 17, 2022
Jazz Look To Take First Two Road Games
Despite an uneven offensive performance in game one, the Jazz hope to take a 2-0 series lead when they face the Mavericks on Monday night at American Airlines Arena.
Donovan Mitchell shot just 1-9 in the first half against Dallas but scored 30 second-half points becoming the first player in the NBA over the last 25 years to cross the 30 point mark in four separate playoff halves.
Donovan Mitchell turned things around in the 2nd half, scoring 30 of his 32 points and leading the Jazz to a Game 1 win.
It was his 4th 30-point half in the playoffs, passing Allen Iverson for the most by any player over the last 25 postseasons. pic.twitter.com/U4tYNr83QT
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 16, 2022
Bojan Bogdanovic carried the Jazz offensive in the first half scoring 20 points to overcome Mitchell’s slow start and finished the game with 26 points in the win.
Rudy Gobert failed to make his one field goal attempt, marking the first time since December 15, 2017, that the star finished a game without a made field goal. The last time it happened Gobert left a game against the Boston Celtics with a knee injury early in the first quarter.
Mavericks In Familiar Territory
The Maverick find themselves in a difficult spot looking to avoid going down 2-0 in a series without their best player on the floor.
Dallas PR announced that Doncic is doubtful for game two with the calf injury, though videos emerged showing the guard doing light work on the court during practice.
Luka Doncic ramping up his activity level, and getting a few more shots up pic.twitter.com/ZtGbDKDBbz
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) April 17, 2022
After Saturday’s loss, the Mavericks are just 8-10 in games this season without Doncic and 1-9 in games against playoff teams.
Doncic leads the Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal attempts, minutes, and usage.
The guard is the NBA’s third-leading scorer and the league’s fifth-leading assist man.
Broadcast
The Jazz and Mavericks will tip-off game at 6:30 pm MT and can be heard on KSL NewsRadio and The Zone Sports Network. The game will be televised on NBATV, AT&T SportsNet, and FuboTV.
