NBA: With Doncic out, Brunson fires 41 as Mavericks pull level with Jazz
Jalen Brunson #13 of the Dallas Mavericks drives to the basket against Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter of Game Two of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center on April 18, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. Tom Pennington/Getty Images/AFP
Jalen Brunson exploded for 41 points, Maxi Kleber added 25 and the host Dallas Mavericks were on fire from outside to overcome superstar Luka Doncic’s absence in a 110-104 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
The teams’ first-round Western Conference playoff series is tied at one win apiece heading to games in Salt Lake City on Thursday and Saturday.
Article continues after this advertisementKleber scored all but one of his points from beyond the arc, shooting 8-for-11 from 3-point range, and Brunson made six treys. Dallas hit 22 of 47 attempts (46.8 percent) from long distance, while Utah connected on 11 of 29 (37.9 percent) from outside.
MAXI KLEBER IS A LASER!
He's up to 8 3-pointers for the @dallasmavs 🔥#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/xBqetyF4Ka
— NBA (@NBA) April 19, 2022
Dallas’ Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 17 points and six assists, while Reggie Bullock put up 11 points.
Article continues after this advertisementDonovan Mitchell scored 34 points, Bojan Bogdanovic had 25 and Jordan Clarkson added 21 for the Jazz, who were unable to maintain the lead they held for most of the second half when it counted most.
Doncic has missed the series’ first two games due to a strained left calf.
Jalen Brunson is balling for the @dallasmavs' in Game 2 🔥
He's up to 36 points on @NBATV#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/JNYD1v9OdC
— NBA (@NBA) April 19, 2022
Utah led by 10 in the third quarter and was up by four heading to the fourth. Mitchell followed his own missed 3-point attempt and converted a three-point play to give the Jazz a 93-86 lead with 8:07 left in the game.
It was all Dallas after that.
Bullock kicked off a game-changing, 10-0 run with a 3-pointer and then Brunson trimmed Utah’s lead to 93-91 with a nice floater. Dorian Finney-Smith drained a triple to put the Mavs up by one, and a Brunson drive capped the surge.
The Jazz momentarily regained the lead, but Kleber helped the Mavericks quickly regain momentum with back-to-back 3-pointers as Utah struggled with its perimeter defense.
Bogdanovic made a couple of clutch turnaround shots, but Finney-Smith hit another trey, Brunson made three free throws and the Jazz only managed two points in the final 2 1/2 minutes.
The Jazz took a 55-48 lead into halftime after finishing the second quarter on a 7-0 run, with Mitchell draining a 3-pointer and Gobert sinking four free throws. Mitchell scored 12 points in the second period.
