Mavs Film Room: Dallas Exposes Familiar Jazz Defensive Blunders In Game 2 Win

Despite having Rudy Gobert as their anchor, the wheels came off the Utah Jazz defender in their Game 2 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Utah Jazz held a 25-point lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 6 of the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals but lost 131-119. With the Clippers going small, Terrance Mann scored 25 of his career-high 39 points in the second half.

A weakness was on full display: on-ball defense.

It's become a common theme for the Jazz defense for their perimeter players to be unable to contain dribble penetration. Gobert stays near the paint as the opposition fully spaces out by going small ball. 

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On Monday night, Dallas was the latest team to take advantage of Utah's personnel limitations in the 110-104 Game 2 win. With Utah's lack of quality on-ball defense, the Mavericks' guards took advantage. Maxi Kleber was often at the 5 — spacing out to the corner. 

"The challenge for us is to do a better job containing the ball," Jazz coach Snyder said. "And then if we aren't able to do that, to come and be able to protect the rim, and then when the balls kicked out, to get that to those shooters, particularly to the first shooter."

Ultimately, the Jazz face a true pick-your-poison set of circumstances when a small ball unit is on the floor. Should Gobert stay home on the corner to prevent an open catch-and-shoot look for the stretch-5? Or should he leave the stretch-5 to protect the rim against a drive? 

When the Jazz left it up to the on-ball defender to contain Jalen Brunson out in space, his crafty ball-handling and quickness chewed up whoever attempted to step up to the task. There was little resistance on his way to the paint to make a play. 

When Gobert attempted to make his presence felt in the paint, the Mavericks managed to work the ball to an open shooter. When the catch-and-shoot attempts are dropping at a high clip, it becomes an untenable situation with Jazz defenders unable to stay in front of their man on the perimeter and Gobert camping out near the paint. 

One of the main culprits of the Jazz's poor defensive execution was their star Donovan Mitchell. It was evident that the Mavericks know they have an advantage by attacking him, whether by trying to attack him out in space to get into the paint or just counting on him poorly making a rotation. This was on full display in the fourth quarter. 

Mitchell shared his thoughts after Game 2, explaining how his team needs to guard the ball better.

"We've got to guard the ball," Mitchell said. "We've got to do a better job of that and then limit the wide-open 3s. We just need to rotate, do something."

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The Jazz gave up a lot of open 3s for the Mavericks in Game 2, especially when Dallas opted to go small. The Mavs shot 22-47 (46.8 percent) from deep, setting a new playoff franchise record for made 3s in a single game. Of those 22 makes, 17 were uncontested  — the most by any team in a playoff game over the last 10 years. A critical part of that production came from Maxi Kleber at the 5 spot — finishing 8-11 (72.7 percent) from beyond the arc. 

"I can't really answer that without giving you the game plan," Mitchell said. "Kleber shot 8 of 11 from 3s. It was more a stunt than a rotate to him — it looks a lot different when he starts making."

While there was a contest, Dorian Finney-Smith knows he's getting that shot off. Even when the Jazz did gain positioning to pressure a shot attempt, there were situations when the Mavericks still capitalized. Finney-Smith even converted against Gobert after using a jab step before raising to shoot.

Gobert's value when the opposition has a traditional big on the court is significant, especially against teams that do not deploy significant pull-up shooting threats initiating the offense. There are substantial challenges involving a rim roller in high screen-and-roll situations, and he can play off the dunker's spot to pressure finishes at the rim. 

However, there appears to be a natural checkmate when teams go small, mainly due to Gobert's inability to make smaller defenders pay on the other end. 

It will be intriguing to see how the Jazz perimeter players respond in Game 3. There was an inability to contain dribble penetration without Luka Doncic even spending a second of time on the floor. With a good chance he could return sooner rather than later, pressure is building rapidly for Utah.