Luka Doncic's 34 Points Propel Mavs to Victory Over Jazz

Following a challenging game with shooting struggles, Luka Doncic rebounded impressively to lead the Mavs to a win against the Jazz.

Mar 21, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket past / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks (41-29) defeated the Utah Jazz with a final score of 113-97 on Thursday night, marking a seventh victory in their previous eight games. Luka Doncic finished with 34 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists to lead his team following an 18-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs that featured the most missed field goals (21) he's ever recorded in a game.

"When you have talent, it's always easy to say that you're supposed to win, but you have to put the talent together and trust one another," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "You can see that in a season. Sometimes, we want it to happen overnight. It's March, and we're playing on both sides of the ball. We're not shooting the 3 as well as we would like but we're still getting wide-open looks, guys are still taking them. Everybody's trust, the chemistry we've built — now it's about being tested."

A continued emphasis by the Mavs on defensive execution, pushing in transition, and attacking the paint was on full display. Dallas is now 6-0 when holding an opponent under 100 points. After scoring 62 points in the paint, the Mavs are now 9-1 when scoring 60 more paint points. The team also recorded 12 steals, the second-most recorded in a game during their 2023-24 campaign.

"Just the penetration, the talk of the ball touching the paint. It's something we've been talking about since training camp," Kidd said. "I thought the guys were able to find each other and be very unselfish tonight, and the bigs took advantage of that, including our stretch four with Kai (Kyrie Irving) on the lob. Making the extra pass tonight — Timmy (Tim Hardaway Jr.) turned down a 3 to give someone else, Maxi [Kleber], a corner 3. He turns that down and drives it to find a teammate. [There were] a lot of great things tonight that we can build on. Our defense, again, was really good."

Daniel Gafford was a standout performer for the Mavs, scoring 24 points and adding six rebounds and five assists. He shot 10-11 from the floor, with all of his made field goals being dunks in part of a franchise-record 18-dunk performance by the team. Kyrie Irving added 16 points, seven assists, and five rebounds, while Derrick Jones Jr. chipped in 12 points and four rebounds.

“It is vital for us to keep attacking the paint and test teams at the rim," Irving said. "It is the most efficient shot in basketball. I just want to continue to have that mentality to attack other teams. It can help us tremendously as we get ready for the playoffs.”

The Jazz received a team-high 21 points from Lauri Markkanen in his return to the lineup, but he shot just 6-20 overall and 1-9 from the perimeter. Collin Sexton added 20 points, five assists, and four rebounds off the bench. Utah also received 18 points and five assists from Keyonte George, while Walker Kessler contributed 14 points and nine rebounds while making all seven of his shot attempts.

It was an underachieving start for the Mavs against a rebuilding team. Dallas often played from behind throughout the first quarter, trailing by as many as seven points at one point despite Doncic scoring 12 points. The Mavs finished the first quarter strongly, with Irving leading the bench group, but Utah led 27-26.

The Jazz scored 20 of their 27 points from the paint in the opening period, while the Mavs had struggled to generate consistent quality paint touches since Utah focused on shrinking the floor with P.J. Washington and Jones on the wing.

Dallas opened the second quarter on an 11-2 run, overtaking the lead to go up 37-29. Utah began attacking the rim frequently, with the Mavs struggling to contain screening actions. They even cut Dallas' advantage down to as low as three points. Some momentum was sparked for the Mavs after a pull-up 3-pointer from Irving in transition pushed them up by six points.

The Mavs deployed Maxi Kleber at center to close out the opening half with Gafford injured, resulting in the team utilizing a switch-heavy defensive approach. After a transition layup from Doncic followed by consecutive made 3-pointers, Dallas extended its lead to 11 points, closing the half up 53-42.

The Mavs' consistent inability to convert on free throws throughout the first half limited their ability to create more separation, shooting 6-15 (40.0 percent). Despite this result, Dallas used a 6-0 run coming out of the break and led by double figures for much of the third quarter.

Seven dunks from the Mavs sparked significant momentum in the third quarter. Doncic walled up Keyonte George out on the perimeter before diving for the loose ball. He flipped it to Irving on the fastbreak, who threw it off the backboard for Jones to finish the dunk in a 2-on-1 situation. Later, Dallas went up by 19 points after a powerful slam from Gafford, followed by an alley-oop from Doncic to Irving.

“I think it’s contagious. It brings energy in the building; you get the crowd into it," Gafford said of the team's dunks. "It just kind of feeds into the offensive side and then we get stops on the other end, too. [They] pretty much put more fuel to the fire. We just come out and keep doing the same thing over and over again. Can’t get bored with it.”

An 11-3 run from the Jazz to close the third quarter reduced the Mavs' advantage to just single figures for a short period until a dropoff pass from Kleber for a Lively dunk pushed Dallas to be up 83-73 when the buzzer sounded.

With the Mavs frequently creating dunk chances for Gafford early in the fourth quarter, it was apparent that Utah could not tighten up defensively to make a meaningful rallying effort. He threw down four of his 10 dunks before the midway mark of the fourth quarter. A pull-up 3-pointer from Irving lifted Dallas to a game-high 19 points with 6:14 remaining in regulation.

Looking ahead, the Mavs and Jazz will face off again on Monday, but the game will be played at Delta Center. It'll mark the start of a five-game road trip for Dallas.