The Dallas Mavericks opened preseason play on Wednesday night with a 111-101 win over the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center. It was a solid performance by the Mavs, who will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Here are our five takeaways from the victory over the Jazz, which got the Jason Kidd era to a good start.
LUKA ALREADY DOING LUKA THINGS: Wednesday was a good indication of why, in a recent survey of the 30 NBA general manager, Luka Doncic is the player they would draft first if they were starting a franchise. The dude was just flat-out balling against the Jazz. Doncic only played in the first half – 15 minutes, 33 spectacular seconds – and collected 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and was a sizzling 8-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Now in his fourth season, Doncic was busy tossing up floaters, draining step-backs, negotiating one-legged fallaways, showing off his spin moves, and casually flipping in mid-range jumpers for good measure. Doncic just has this flair for the dramatics, and he was simply flawless against the Jazz.
PORZINGIS LOOKED SPRY: Now that he’s finally able to go into a season without rehabbing any parts of his body – and without coming off any type of surgery – Kristaps Porzingis is able to be his old self again. And the last time his body was void of those distractions, Porzingis was selected to the 2018 Eastern Conference All-Star team when he was still playing for New York. Against the Jazz, Porzingis collected seven points and four rebounds, and was a modest 2-of-6 from the field in 16 minutes. But he also distributed three assists – something he only did 12 times last season. But where Porzingis was really effective and was flying all over the court was on the defensive end where he collected two blocked shots and altered many others.
BRUNSON ON TOP OF HIS GAME: As the backup to Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson knows one of his jobs is to keep things moving once Doncic goes to the bench. Brunson was masterful in doing so against the Jazz. In just 21 minutes, the fourth-year veteran tallied 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and dispensed a game-high eight assists. It was as if Brunson – who admittedly didn’t have a terrific playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers last season – was trying to prove that his performance against the Clippers was only an aberration. Brunson had so much energy Wednesday night that he even startled everybody when he dunked the ball. To put that in context, Brunson had four dunks during his rookie campaign in the 2018-19 season. And he hasn’t had another dunk since.
BOBAN FROM. . .THREE?: I’m not sure if NBA officials will ask Boban Marjanovic to participate in the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland. But if the 7-4 center has a steady diet of duplicating what he did against the Jazz from long distance, his invitation may be forthcoming. Not only did Marjanovic drain a 3-pointer from the left corner late in the third quarter that brought all of his teammates off the bench spreading joy and laughter. But a short time later, Marjanovic floated over to the right side of the arc and drilled another triple that got his teammates in an even more celebratory mood. Last year Marjanovic only attempted eight 3-pointers and made one. Oh yeah, he also scored 14 points in the third quarter against the Jazz on 5-of-7 shots.
CARLIK JONES IMPRESSES: Hoop followers are probably not all that familiar with Carlik Jones. But the undrafted rookie guard out of Louisville let his performance against the Jazz speak for itself. Jones only played 14 minutes and poured in 13 points while converting six of his 10 field goals. What was even more astonishing is that Jones knows he’s an extremely long, long shot to make the Mavs’ final roster because of the team’s financial commitments to other players on the roster. He also knows much of what he did against the Jazz was to showcase his wares for scouts, general managers and front office personnel who were on hand for Wednesday’s game. So, there was Jones, slithering through traffic and repeatedly scoring in the lane. He played so well that he was invited to the postgame press conference.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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