Mavericks Doncic Dominates Cold-Shooting Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz nine-game win streak was snapped by Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in a 111-103 loss at American Airline Arena.

The Jazz sunk just 12-44 from the three-point line while the Mavericks connected on 23-49 from deep to control the game through the final three quarters.

Mike Conley scored 28 points for the Jazz but was outdone by Doncic who contributed 31 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and eight assists to carry the Mavericks.

The @utahjazz will have a chance to start a new streak on Wednesday in Phoenix. #TakeNote https://t.co/7lTE7JvNLI

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 6, 2021

For Whom The Threes Fall

After a record-setting three-point shooting performance against the Orlando Magic, the Jazz were ice cold from the three-point line, especially through the first 36 minutes of the game.

Though the Jazz connected on 5-11 deep balls in the final quarter to trim the final deficit to single digits, they made just seven of their first 33 attempts and trailed by 18 heading into the fourth quarter.

The team’s main offenders were Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale who each shot 0-8 from the three-point line. Bojan Bogdanovic connected on just 1-3 from deep, while Jordan Clarkson made only 2-9 from the three-point line.

The Jazz 12 made threes are tied for their fourth-fewest of the season, while the 27 percent shooting was second-worst.

Literally, not missing pic.twitter.com/3L6EOvTraj

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 6, 2021

Dallas meanwhile resembled the Jazz of late hitting 21 of their first 39 three-point attempts to open the game. In total, the Jazz allowed the Mavericks to connect on 23 three, the most by any opponent this season, and the most since November 5, 2017.

NBA teams are now 18-2 all-time when making at least 20 threes while shooting better than 40 from deep.

“They made 10 more threes than us, it’s going to be tough to do that,” Quin Snyder said of the Jazz long odds to win such a lopsided shooting game. “We can look at some of the things we need to do better. I felt like we could have moved the ball a little bit better at certain times in the game.”

Three Mavericks starters hit at least five threes led by Doncic who connected on 6-11 from deep in Dallas’ second most prolific shooting night of the season.

Jazz Bench Struggles Against Mavericks

Despite poor shooting nights from Mitchell and O’Neale, every Jazz started finished with a positive plus-minus against the Mavericks.

However, the bench struggled mightily.

Joe Ingles had one of his worst games of the season scoring just three points on 1-4 shooting. The veteran guard had three turnovers, four fouls, and was a game-worst -17 while on the floor.

THJ’s celebration is EVERYTHING 💙#MFFL | @AcmeBrick pic.twitter.com/wBcP2tCqII

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 6, 2021

Despite scoring 16 points, Clarkson was -14 in his nearly 22 minutes on the floor. Derrick Favors was -11 in his 13:40 of game time, while Georges Niang was -10 in 12:50 on the floor.

The Mavericks second unit was dominant despite playing running just three players deep. Dwight Powell, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jalen Brunson combined to score 40 points on 16-30 shooting including 7-14 from deep.

Jazz Win Streak Ends At Nine

The Jazz win streak ended at nine after a slow start to the second half of the season. The Jazz own the three longest winning streaks in the NBA this season at 11, nine, and nine

After the Jazz 11 game win streak was snapped, they lost just one game before winning their next nine.

The win streak is snapped at 9 as the @utahjazz fall to the @dallasmavs 111-103.

Jazz shoot just 27% from three while the Mavericks hit 47% of their 49 attempts. #takenote pic.twitter.com/VW7rSjlJfu

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 6, 2021

After that streak ended, the Jazz lost six of their next 11 games before beginning this most recent streak. How the Jazz answer this loss will have a large impact on their final playoff seeding.

The Jazz have games against Phoenix, Portland, and the Los Angeles Lakers twice in the next eight outings, and could lose significant ground in the race for the top seed in the West if they don’t regain their footing quickly.