'It Was Big': Reggie Bullock Delivers When Mavs Needed Most vs. Jazz
It wasn't until just 35.5 seconds were remaining in regulation of the Dallas Mavericks' 103-100 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday that Reggie Bullock scored his first points of the game. While it was his only made shot, It was the team's biggest shot of the night — converting a made corner 3-pointer to give the Mavs a five-point lead.
It was big," Mavs coach Jason Kidd. "It was a big trust, understanding we probably didn't shoot the ball extremely well from the three … We got 38 of them up. But Reggie’s [Bullock] shot was big, and I think just the trust factor [with] that group that was on the floor, Luka [Doncic] getting doubled in the swing-swing, getting the wide-open three. [Bullock] makes it, and we kind of take control of the game.
"It just shows the trust that his teammates and the coaches and everyone has in Reggie. We would say Reggie is not shooting the ball well right now, but that doesn't mean that he's not capable. Having him in not just for defense but believing he can make one of those shots … Doe [Dorian Finney-Smith] does it for us the other night, and Reggie does it tonight."
The play was created by the Mavs getting the defense out of rotation and taking a diligent approach to get a mismatch switched onto Luka Doncic — causing the defense to double-team and be out of rotation. While a common approach is to have Doncic receive a ball screen, Utah could have attempted to hedge and recover to keep Conley from committing to switching, given it was clutch time.
The Mavs got creative by having Dinwiddie initiate the possession with Doncic beginning off the ball. Dinwiddie received a screen from Conley's man, Dorian Finney-Smith, to command the soft switch knowing a hedge and recover technique wouldn't be deployed against Dinwiddie. After that occurs, Dinwiddie gets the ball to Doncic and screens for him high — causing the switch with Conley to occur. Utah sends two defenders at Doncic — creating a ball movement opportunity leading to an open 3-pointer in the corner for Bullock.
The Mavs took advantage of numerous plays in the fourth quarter that featured the defense being forced to commit multiple defenders at the ball due to their offense being diligent in hunting mismatches. The approach varied with one featuring Doncic starting on-ball then attacking out of the post, then others where he played off-ball. The ends result was the same: the defense had to react.
“It was a very big shot" Doncic said. "They just doubled and we moved the ball around and he shot. I think it was a great possession, and I think we had a couple of those. Those possessions are good.”
It was a favorable outcome for the Mavs considering they recently lost a 16-point lead with around four minutes remaining in regulation when they lost 117-111 in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
The Mavs will look to continue their positive execution in the clutch when they take on the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
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