Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points after halftime, Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 26 and the Utah Jazz opened the NBA Playoffs with a 99-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who were without injured All-Star guard Luka Doncic.
Bogdanovic had Utah’s only two three-pointers before halftime, in a 13-2 run over the final three-and-a-half minutes that put the Jazz ahead to stay. Mitchell, who always seems to step up in the postseason, came alive after the break.
The fourth-seeded Mavericks, starting the playoffs at home for the first time since their NBA title season 11 years ago, sorely missed their 23-year-old superstar. Doncic strained his left calf six days earlier in the regular-season finale. Coach Jason Kidd has said only that he is day-to-day.
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Game two in the best-of-seven series on Tuesday morning AEST in Dallas.
Jalen Brunson, the starting point guard with Doncic out, had 24 points on nine-of-24 shooting with seven rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 22 points, Reggie Bullock added 15 and Dorian Finney-Smith 14.
With Doncic in a black hoodie on the bench, the Mavericks cut an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to 92-91 on a three-pointer by Maxi Kleber with 2:12 left. After Mitchell missed, the Mavs had the chance to take their first lead in the second half, but Kleber missed badly on another long-range shot.
Royce O’Neale then scored his only basket for the Jazz, a three-pointer from the corner after he had first missed inside and then got a pass from Mitchell. Utah finished with a 20-7 edge in second-chance points.
Rudy Gobert had 17 rebounds for the Jazz.
The Jazz, who were second in the NBA with 14.5 made three-pointers a game, missed their first nine shots from beyond the arc until Bogdanovic hit from the right corner in front of the Dallas bench to get them within 41-35 with 3:10 left in the second quarter.
Utah’s only other 3 before halftime by Bogdanovic with 2.2 seconds left for a 45-43 lead after taking a pass back from Mitchell.
Doncic spent the game at the end of the Mavericks bench, at one point munching popcorn from a cup in his hand late in the first quarter. He was on the other side of owner Mark Cuban as both — along with much of the Mavs bench — acted in dismay with 31 seconds left in the first half after Kleber was called for a foul when Bogdanovic went hard into him to draw the call.
Bogdanovic made both of those free throws, and Brunson hit a tough shot at the other end, but the Utah forward made his half-ending 3 that put the Jazz ahead to stay.