'Room For Optimism': Brunson, Dinwiddie Not Enough As Mavs Fall To Jazz In Game 1

The Dallas Mavericks put up a valiant effort in Game 1, but the absence of Luka Doncic was simply too much to overcome against a healthy Utah Jazz team.

Heading into Game 1 of their first-round series against the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center on Saturday afternoon, the Dallas Mavericks knew they faced a tall task with superstar Luka Doncic sidelined due to a calf strain.

With Doncic out, the margin for error was microscopic as Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie took the reins on offense. Unfortunately for the Mavs, though, they weren't able to make enough buckets despite generating a number of wide-open looks. Dallas ultimately lost Game 1, 99-93.

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Brunson vs. Conley.

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Powell, Brunson and Dinwiddie.

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Conley guards Brunson.

The Mavs fed off the home crowd's energy in the first quarter as they held the league's top-rated offense to just 20 points. Utah initially struggled to defend Dallas at the point of attack with Brunson and Dinwiddie leading the way. Brunson finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Dinwiddie had 22 points and eight assists.

After building a 41-32 lead with less than four minutes left in the first half, the Mavs couldn't hold off a furious 13-2 Jazz run to end the quarter. Dallas trailed 45-43 at the break.

Although the Mavs kept things respectable in the second half, they simply couldn't get the consistent stops or buckets needed to pull off the upset. Dallas shot just 38 percent from the field as a team and 28 percent from deep. The Mavs also shot 26-of-34 on free throws. Dinwiddie accounted for six of Dallas' eight misses at the stripe.

"It's inexcusable to miss six free throws in a playoff game," said Dinwiddie. "There's a lot of room for optimism (though). ... We have to do our part offensively to score over 100 points."

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Will Luka Doncic make his return to action in Game 2?

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Mavs GM Nico Harrison looking on during pregame warmups.

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The NBA 75 basketball on display at AAC.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 32 points on 10-of-26 shooting, but Bojan Bogdanovic was arguably their most important player in Game 1, as he finished with 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Bogdanovic singlehandedly kept the Jazz from falling into a deep first-half hole by scoring 20 of his points in those first two quarters alone.

Next up, the Mavs will take on the Jazz again in Game 2 on Monday night before the series shifts to Utah for Game 3 and Game 4. Will Doncic be ready to make his series debut? One source close to Doncic tells DallasBasketball.com not to be surprised if he suits up. Regardless, Dallas hopes to head to Utah with a 1-1 series tie.