SI:AM | Jalen Brunson Had the Game of His Life in Luka’s Absence

Plus, a high school softball score you have to see to believe.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I never expected this guy to take over a playoff game. 

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Jalen Brunson stepped up

It’s usually an overreaction to say this about Game 2 of a seven-game series, but last night’s Mavericks-Jazz game was critical for Dallas.

With star player Luka Dončić sidelined by a calf strain, the Mavs lost Game 1 at home, 99–93. Falling behind in the series 0–2 as it shifts to Utah—especially with Dončić’s status for the rest of the series up in the air—would have been awfully close to a death sentence.

Dončić was in street clothes again for Game 2 last night, but the Mavs prevailed, 110–104, thanks to a heroic performance from Jalen Brunson. The fourth-year point guard out of Villanova erupted for 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting, with eight rebounds and five assists. Maxi Kleber also came off the bench and hit eight of 11 shots (all from three) to drop 25 points.

Brunson was an unlikely hero, but somebody had to step up. His 41 points were by far a career high, surpassing a 34-point outing against the Spurs in March 2019. But even that doesn’t accurately depict just how out of character the outburst was. In 286 career regular-season and playoff games, Brunson now has just 12 games with at least 25 points. His 25 shot attempts tied a career high (set last Christmas—coincidentally also against the Jazz, not coincidentally with Dončić out). He also became the fifth player in Mavs history to record 40 points in a playoff game, joining Dirk Nowitzki (seven times), Dončić (five), Rolando Blackman (twice) and Nick Van Exel. Brunson is the only player in Dallas’s playoff history to have 40 points and no turnovers in a game.

The fact that Brunson was his team’s primary option was equally unusual. He’s been a solid role player during his four NBA seasons, but never the kind of guy to take over a game like that. This season, the first season he started a majority of games, he averaged 16.3 points per game, a career high. Last night was only the third time in his NBA career that he’s attempted at least 24 shots (the other two were Game 1 on Saturday and that aforementioned Christmas game).

The Mavs looked listless in Game 1. I happen to be in Dallas right now and actually went to the game. My trenchant analysis from my seat in the upper deck with a beer in my hand is that, without Dončić on the floor to facilitate, Dallas had to settle for a lot of bad shots. The Mavs shot 38.2% from the field in that game, compared to 47% last night. It’s easy to see what the difference was.

Brunson’s big game was huge for the Mavs’ hopes in the series, obviously, but it was also hugely important for him personally. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this season and a 41-point outburst in the postseason when the team needs you to step up is the kind of game that earns guys a bigger bag in contract negotiations.

The series is tied 1–1 after Dallas’s win last night. The other two Game 2s last night weren’t particularly close, with the Sixers breezing past the Raptors and the Warriors making quick work of the Nuggets. They’re both up 2–0. The Jazz still seemingly have the upper hand in their series with the Mavs after picking up a win on the road, but if Dallas can steal one in Utah with Bruson staying hot and get Dončić back, you never know what can happen.

The best of Sports Illustrated

In today’s Daily Cover, Rohan Nadkarni spoke with Deandre Ayton about wanting to make up for last year’s playoff failure:

“I’m going to tell you the truth right now, that was the worst taste in our mouths,” Ayton told

Sports Illustrated

late in the regular season about last July’s loss to the Bucks. ”It’s like a knife stabbed us in the chest. I think about it every day. And there’s a certain vengeance I’ve been putting into my game.

“So lord knows we’re coming into this postseason ready.”

The NFL is investigating Hue Jackson’s claims that he was encouraged to lose games with the Browns, Conor Orr and Gary Gramling report. … Mookie Betts has 11 years left on his contract with the Dodgers but told Michael Shapiro that he’s already thinking about the Hall of Fame. … Tom Verducci checks in from Los Angeles, where Freddie Freeman played his first game against the Braves last night.

Around the Sports World

Marcus Smart is the first guard to win Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton in 1996. … In a 105-page letter, the Commanders denied allegations of financial impropriety. … Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers will face Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in a golf match broadcast on TNT. … A USFL running back was cut by his team after complaining about chicken salad. … The XFL held a meeting with player agents in an attempt to convince them that the league is a better destination for players than the USFL, ESPN reports. … The Panthers are reportedly a leading candidate to land Baker Mayfield.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Anthony Edwards revealing what he named his dog

4. Freddie Freeman’s first home run with the Dodgers (against the Braves)

3. The Warriors’ run to retake the lead before halftime

2. Jalen Brunson’s highlight reel

1. The box score from a high school softball game in Washington where the teams combined for 87 runs

SIQ

Today is Joe Mauer’s 39th birthday. One of the best catchers of his generation, Mauer was a fantastic all-around athlete in high school at Cretin-Derham Hall, a Catholic school in St. Paul, Minn., also excelling in football and basketball. Which school did he commit to play quarterback at before being selected first in the 2001 MLB draft?

Yesterday’s SIQ: In the longest game in professional baseball history on April 18, 1981, how many innings did the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings play before the game was suspended?

Answer: 32. The game was suspended and resumed on June 23 in the top of 33rd. It took only 18 minutes before Dave Koza’s walk-off hit for Pawtucket in the bottom of the inning. In total, it took eight hours and 25 minutes to finish the game.

The start of the game was delayed by about 30 minutes due to an issue with the lights at Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium. When it finally got underway around 8 p.m., the game was a low-scoring affair. The Red Wings scratched across their first run of the game in the top of the seventh and the Red Sox scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings.

The lack of scoring was thanks to a stiff wind blowing in from centerfield that prevented several hard-hit flyballs from leaving the yard. The wind also had players shivering on a cold early spring night in Rhode Island. Pawtucket’s Marty Barrett told the New York Times on the occasion of the game’s 25th anniversary that teammate Bob Ojeda put a bunch of broken bats in a garbage can and started a fire to keep warm.

As the game progressed through the bonus innings, neither team could get anything going on offense. Rochester’s Dave Huppert hit an RBI double in the top of the 21st to make it 2–1 but Wade Boggs’s RBI double in the bottom of the frame sent the game to a 22nd inning.

“When I doubled in the tying run in the 21st inning, I didn’t know if the guys wanted to hug me or slug me,” Boggs told the Times. “But, being competitors, we did want to win the game.”

(The game featured two future Hall of Famers at third base: Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. for Rochester.)

The official rules of the International League said that umpires should not begin a new inning after 12:50 a.m. local time, but the manual in home plate umpire Denny Cregg’s pocket did not mention the curfew, so the teams kept playing. Eventually, league president Harold Cooper was woken up by a phone call at home and ordered that the game be suspended at the end of the current inning. The 32nd inning came to an end at 4:07 a.m. on Easter Sunday. There were 19 fans in the stands.

The teams got a few hours of sleep and went back to the ballpark for their regularly scheduled day game.

From the Vault: April 19, 1999

Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated

The Browns’ past two decades of misfortune can be traced back to the decision they made at the top of the 1999 draft.

That was the year they rejoined the NFL after the original team moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. Cleveland had the first pick in the draft and zeroed in, understandably, on choosing a quarterback. The choice was between Tim Couch and Akili Smith.

“That Smith is even in the company of Couch on draft eve is startling,” Peter King wrote. “After throwing for 8,159 yards and 73 touchdowns in his last two Kentucky seasons, Couch has been painted as this year's Peyton Manning—polished on and off the field.”

Smith was no slouch, either, but he only spent one year as the starter at Oregon. Still, that one year was a great one, as King wrote:

“On the other hand, Smith played in an orthodox NFL-style offense in college, and he blew away the competition in ’98 with a 32-touchdown, eight-interception season. Last year Smith averaged an NCAA-high 10.1 yards per attempt, Couch a pedestrian 7.1. [First-year Browns coach Chris] Palmer, the former offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, will use a multiple offense that will rely more on intermediate and deep throws than most NFL teams use, maybe making Smith a better fit for the Browns.”

The Browns went with Couch, while Smith went third to the Bengals. Neither player had a good NFL career, but Couch at least spent five (injury-plagued) seasons as a starter, while Smith started only 17 games over the course of four seasons.

The Couch pick had to be especially painful for Browns fans as they watched the guy picked at No. 2, Donovan McNabb, blossom into a Pro Bowler. Another future star fell to the Vikings at No. 11: Daunte Culpepper. But the two Ohio teams passed on both of them and thus began many years of misfortune (at least until Joe Burrow arrived).

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.