GAME 1: Utah Jazz (0-0) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (0-0)
Time: Noon, Saturday.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
TV: Bally Sports Southwest, ESPN.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Univision Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Jazz: They weren’t exactly steamrolling into the playoffs, having lost seven of their last 11 games. While they finished the season with a victory at the woeful Portland Trail Blazers, Utah lost seven of their previous eight road games, including a 114-110 setback at AAC . . . How close is the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed in the first round of the playoffs. Over the last six seasons, the No. 4 seed has won the best-of-seven match seven times and lost five times, although the Jazz have advanced to the second round twice during that time as a No. 5 seed . . . They were 0-2 in games at AAC, but won both meetings in Salt Lake City . . . They are led in scoring by guard Donovan Mitchell at 25.9 points per game and the Jazz are hoping the combo of Mitchell and center Rudy Gobert can click. The pairing was inconsistent at times during the regular season, although Gobert’s numbers were impeccable at 15.6 points and 14.7 rebounds, along with more than two blocked shots per game . . . Unlike past seasons when the Jazz have been among the favorites in the Western Conference, they find themselves flying under the radar this season. “It’s way different than last year, but sometimes I like being the challenger,” said Gobert. “I like when people count us out.” Most people aren’t exactly counting out the Jazz, but they are the lower seed for a reason. “You look at this year, we’ve had some struggles, we’ve had some adversity, and going into [the playoffs], people aren’t looking for us to do things,” Mitchell said . . . All of that may be true, but the Jazz still have one of the best home-court advantages in the NBA. That puts even more emphasis on the Mavericks taking care of business at home.
About the Mavericks: The official announcement came Saturday morning, when Jason Kidd said that Luka Dončić officially will be out for Game 1. “He’s day to day,” Kidd said, which did not inspire a lot of optimism about Luka’s potential availability for Game 2 on Monday night. He’s recovering from a strained left calf muscle he suffered in the regular-season finale and which kept him out of practice all week . . . The Mavericks also are without Maxi Kleber (foot) and Frank Ntilikina, who figured to help with depth in Dončić’s absence. Ntilikina underwent a tonsillectomy earlier this week and will make a gradual return to basketball activity . . . National analysts have come to the conclusion that this series hinges completely on the health of Luka. The Mavericks have been installed as a 5½-point underdog for game 1, which no doubt would change radically if he were able to give it a go . . . No matter what the circumstances, the Mavericks need to get off to a good start. Winning Game 1 doesn’t guarantee anything, but it increases a home team’s chance of winning the series about 12 percent . . . They went 29-12 at AAC this season, including 6-0 down the stretch . . . The Mavericks won Game 1 on the road last year at the Los Angeles Clippers, but the series ended up going seven games with the Clippers advancing. The Mavericks have not made the second round of the playoffs since their championship run in 2011 . . . The Mavericks have made the playoffs 18 times in the last 22 seasons. Only San Antonio (19) and Boston (18) have had as much success getting to the postseason . . . They will be leaning on Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson as the starting backcourt if Luka is unavailable. That will shorten up the rotation even further as Dinwiddie served as the sixth man late in the season . . . Brunson had a subpar run last year in the playoffs and has been vocal about wanting to atone for it. He had terrific regular season averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Twitter: @ESefko
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