By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
Behind Jalen Brunson’s career high 41 points, the Dallas Mavericks evened their playoff series with the Utah Jazz with a 110-104 victory on Monday night at American Airlines Center. The win guaranteed at least one more playoff game in Dallas.
The Mavs and Jazz are now tied 1-1 as the best-of-7 first round playoff series shifts to Utah for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 will be played on Thursday, April 21 at 9 p.m. CST on NBA-TV and Saturday, April 23 at 4:30 p.m. on TNT.
Dallas return home to host Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Monday, April 25th at 8:30 p.m. CST, also televised on TNT.
In addition to Brunson’s 41 points, he finished the night with 8 rebounds and five assists.
“This (win) is great, but we got a long way to go” Brunson said after the game. “This is a great win for us, something that we can build off of. But we got a lot of improvement that we need to have happen. We just have to stay the course.”
The Mavs were playing their second playoff game without Luka Doncic who is out with a calf injury. He has been rehabbing and there is optimism that he may be able to return sometime in the series.
Meanwhile its been next-man-up for the Mavs and that’s what has happened. Monday’s win was a total team effort. In addition to Brunson’s monster night, Maxi Kleber had a big night with eight 3-pointers and 25 points. He joined Jason Terry (nine) as the only Mavericks with eight or more 3-pointers in a playoff game.
In addition, the Mavs shot 22 3-pointers, the most in any playoff game in franchise history. They also committed just three turnovers, a franchise record-low.
“We did what we had to do and that was to win tonight,” said Head Coach Jason Kidd. “Game 1 was over. There’s nothing we could do. Now we get ready for Game 3. It’s a hostile environment and they play well at home.
“We have to stay together and we’ve shown that because after Game 1 it’s easy to go separate ways. But we’ve been saying it all season, after bad performances, we tend to bounce back. And there’s nothing different. Now we have to try to find a way to do what they did and that’s win one game.”
