Dallas Apr 17 (BUS): Bojan Bogdanovich put Utah ahead to stay just before the break, Donovan Michel had a powerful shot in the second half, and Royce O’Neill’s only late shot was a big jazz.
All injured guard Luka Doncic can do for the Dallas Mavericks is watch from the bench, where he at one point chewed on popcorn, The Associated Press reports.
Mitchell scored 30 of 32 points after the break, and Bogdanovic finished 26 and opened the playoffs with a 99-93 victory on Saturday over the Mavericks, who had trimmed their 11-point lead to one point ahead of O’Neill by three points.
“The fact that he didn’t hesitate to take the ball, that’s the mentality, and I think it’s the mentality our team has now,” said Jazz coach Quinn Snyder.
The fourth-seeded Mavis, who started the playoffs at home for the first time since the NBA title season 11 years ago, missed their 23-year-old star even though Galen Bronson had 24 points and Spencer Dinwiddy 22. Six days ago in the regular season final . Coach Jason Kidd only said he’s working day in and day out.
Game Two in the Best of Seven series takes place Monday night in Dallas.
Bogdanovic had only had two three-pointers for Utah before halftime, in a 13-2 run over the last three and a half minutes that put the Jazz ahead for survival. Mitchell, who always seems to be ahead in the post-season, was shooting 1 of 9 before coming back alive after the break.
“I did come out a little bit of negativity[early]and, in the same vein, Bojan was rolling in,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t feel like I was out of control, Bojan was going… In the second half, I came out in attack mode.”
With Doncic wearing a black hoodie off the bench, the Mavericks had a 92-91 3-pointer run by Maxi Kleber with 2:12 left. After Mitchell missed, the Mavs had a chance to take their first lead in the second half, but Kleber misfied badly with another long-range shot.
“Think about it: We lost by six, I missed six free throws. There we are. If anything, this should be encouraging to our fan base in my opinion,” Dinwiddy said. “Give them credit. They went there and won the match. …with two top scorers, both vying for the 30’s basically and still holding them under the 100, overall I think there’s a lot of room for optimism.”
O’Neal made the third pointer on the same possession he missed on the inside before later getting a pass from Mitchell and hitting the shot clock from the right corner. Utah finished 20-7 with an advantage in second-chance points.
“It was in my head that I was going to shoot anyway,” O’Neill said, when asked about the shot clock.
Branson, the starting point guard with Doncic off, was 9 of 24 with seven rebounds and five assists.
“We lost a lot of easy looks, a lot of great looks,” Bronson said. “We just play basketball. There is no one to tell us who shoots what and where. We just kind of put ourselves in a position to make plays for each other. Coach Kidd gives us that ability and that confidence.”
Not much 3 seconds
The Jazz, who finished second in the NBA with 14.5 three-pointers per game, were 7 of 22 and missed first shots from outside the arc until Bogdanovic scored 3:10 from the left in the second quarter. He also only had 3 more players left before the break, taking a pass from Mitchell 2.2 seconds left to lead 45-43.
“I think the end of the first half conversation[with Mitchell]was really the play he had at the end of the second quarter,” Snyder said. “Playing on our strengths. Bojan came in and peeled off, and Donovan found him. I thought the way we finished the second quarter was a big part of the match.”
Donsi on the sideline
Doncic was eating popcorn from the hand of the mug near the end of the first quarter. Later, he was standing next to owner Mark Cuban as both – along with plenty of bench Mavs – reacted in dismay with 31 seconds left in the first half after Kleber was called up for a foul on Bogdanovic, who then made two free throws. After Bronson hit a hard shot at the other end, Bogdanovic scored 3 in the first half.
Hint
Jazz: Rudy Gobert missed his only shot from the field, but made five free throws and had 17 rebounds. …Utah was called up for a technical foul early in the fourth quarter for having six men on the field. Bronson missed a free throw for Dallas. Apparently Mitchell was back in the game for Jordan Clarkson, who was running towards the touchline but apparently was still on the field when the ball was hit.
Mavericks: Dinwiddie was 6 of 15 from the field and 10 of 16 from the free throw line. … Reggie Bullock added 15 points and Dorian Vinnie Smith 14. .. Goalkeeper Frank Ntelikina returned to the team after undergoing a tonsillectomy, and will gradually return to basketball activities.