SALT LAKE CITY – With their two leading scorers – Luka Doncic and Christian Wood – out with injuries, Saturday was
shaping up to be an extra tough day at the office for the Mavericks.
But after a shaky first half, the Mavs showed some spunk in the second half before losing to the Utah Jazz, 108-100, at Vivint Arena.
“I think the guys did a great job in the second half,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It wasn’t pretty, but to come out in the second half and execute on both sides, we just needed more shots to go down for us.”
To his credit, Kidd wasn’t going to blame the loss on his team being short-handed.
“We’ve got a lot of injuries, but the character in that locker room is high,” he said. “It’s not about the injuries. We’ve got to play with the guys in uniform.
“That’s just the way the league is, and I thought, again, the guys fought. It’s just the small details in that first half they took advantage of, and I thought in the second half after we talked about it the guys came out and executed what we had to do. Again, I love the way that we came out after halftime and competed.”
Here are the three takeaways from the eight-point loss to the Jazz.
DINWIDDIE WINNING: On a day when his contract was fully guaranteed because he played at least 50 games this season for the second 
year in a row, Spencer Dinwiddie celebrated by scoring a game-high 35 points and handing out a team-high eight assists. Dinwiddie was in such a groove that the Jazz resorted to double-teaming him whenever he touched the ball — just to get it out of his hands. That’s respect. In the past two games, Dinwiddie has scored 71 points in 82 minutes, and is 21-of-41 from the field, 11-of-17 from three-point land and 18-of-24 on free throws, and he also has 10 rebounds, 17 assists and just four turnovers.
BULLOCK WAS ON TARGET: Reggie Bullock hit so many big shots in this game. That includes drilling a three-pointer that helped the Mavs inch within 103-98 of the Jazz with 2:37 remaining in the game. Bullock wound up scoring 19 points, grabbing five rebounds and delivering two assists in 33 minutes off the bench. He was 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc. It’s the third time Bullock has made at least five three-pointers in a game this season. He also hit five pointers against Miami on Jan. 20 and converted eight three-pointers against Portland on Jan. 14.
FINNEY-SMITH HANGING WITH THE CENTERS: Dorian Finney-Smith is only 6-7, but he has spent more than his fair share of time trying to guard seven-footers whenever the Mavs go to a small lineup. That was the case again Saturday as Finney-Smith was occasionally guarding 6-11 Lauri Markkanen. Finney-Smith finished with 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 41 minutes. He was 4-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-7 from downtown. On guarding Markkanen, Finney-Smith said: “He’s been shooting the mess out of the ball. You just got to make it hard for him and try not to let him get to his spots.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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