Mavs vs. Jazz Game 5 Donuts: Dazzling Luka Doncic & 'Amazing Defense' Lead Rout
In their first Game 5 at American Airlines Center in 11 years, the Dallas Mavericks got another bolt of Luka lightning to dominate the Utah Jazz and move within one win of their first playoff series victory since their 2011 championship run.
DONUT 1: DOMINANT DALLAS - Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson combined to go 0 of 9 on 3-pointers and yet the Mavs led by 16 points at halftime. It was that kind of night. The kind where the Mavs played like an old 78rpm vinyl record and the Jazz were stuck on 33rpm.
They won the battles to loose balls. They grabbed more rebounds. They held Utah a season-low 36-point first half. But, mostly, they rode Luka's 33-point, 13-rebound, five-assist performance to one of the biggest playoff blowout wins in franchise history. The Jazz made only 3 of 30 (10 percent) 3-pointers, the worst percentage in NBA postseason history by a team to attempt at least 25.
"Just play the same way we played today,'' said Luka on how to keep it going. "Our defense was amazing."
DONUT 2: VIRGINAL VICTORY - Better late than never, Luka got his first home playoff win in AAC with the Mavs. In 2019 the NBA Playoffs were played in an Orlando bubble thanks to COVID. Last season Dallas went 0-3 at home against the Los Angeles Clippers and Doncic missed this series' Game 2 win with his calf injury. Something tells us this home playoff win is just the first of many.
Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images
DONUT 3: HIGH FIVE - This was the Mavs first Game 5 at AAC since the 112-103 victory over the Miami Heat in 2011 that gave them a 3-2 series lead and set the stage for their lone championship. Dallas has won its last six Game 5s at home in a 2-2 series, including Dirk Nowitzki's 50-point outburst (making 5 of 6 3-pointers and 17 of 18 free throws) against the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals.
DONUT 4: LUKA MAGIC - Doncic toying with Rudy Gobert under the basket just before halftime was the craziest thing since one man spent $44 billion to buy a social media company. One-on-one against Gobert after a switch, Luka drove into the lane and threw three exaggerated ball-fakes - including one behind the defender's back - that made the 7-foot-1, three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year look like a member of the Washington Generals haplessly trying to keep up with a Harlem Globetrotter.
Doncic was particularly giddy with himself over the layup and ensuing free throw. It's no secret he doesn't particularly care for Gobert. In a March 27 game at AAC Gobert blocked Luka's shot at the end of the first half and the two threw the ball at one another, resulting in a Doncic technical foul.
Gobert is menacing and all, but it's not real comforting to be in Luka's crosshairs, either.
DONUT 5: HIGH FIVE - We've all heard the NBA stat that the winner of Game 5 in a 2-2 series advances to the next round 82 percent of the time. But that number would be even higher if it weren't for the Mavs in 2021. Led by Luka's 42 points, eight rebounds and 14 assists in Staples Center last Spring, the Mavs beat the Clippers in Game 5 of their 2-2 first-round series and then promptly lost Games 6, 7 and the series. Don't get us wrong, it's better to win Game 5. But this series isn't over. Shouldn't have to remind the Mavs.
DONUT 6: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MOODY MADNESS - No matter what the Mavs and Jazz produced Monday night, it was sure to pale in comparison to what happened in Dallas 38 years ago. April 26, 1984 will always be remembered as "Moody Madness", when the Mavericks beat the Seattle Supersonics in one of the craziest Game 5s in NBA history. Venue change. College court. Massive thunderstorm. Frenzied finish. Players summoned from showers to re-play the final seconds. And, in the end, the first playoff series victory in Mavs franchise history.
DONUT 7: ALLEY-OOPS - Okay, we've all moved on from the Game 4 collapse in Salt Lake City. Or ... have we? The NBA admitting Donovan Mitchell should have been called for an offensive foul in the final minute. Dwight Powell's crucial missed free throws. Donovan Mitchell's lob pass to Gobert with 11 seconds remaining being the first time the Jazz veterans have connected for a game winner in 345 games together. It all still stings, because after Monday night's dominating performance this series could easily be over.
DONUT 8: FICKLE FORMULA - Remember how in Game 2 Maxi Kleber hit eight 3-pointers and we all predicted his outside shooting would be a key in the series?
Yeah, he missed his only triple and went scoreless as Dallas won by 25.
Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images
Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images
Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images
DONUT 9: DR. FEELGOOD - In the 2003 Western Conference Finals, a knee injury to Nowitzki hurt the Mavs' chances and ripped apart the organization as coach Don Nelson, owner Mark Cuban and the medical staff butted heads on how/if the star player should return. Give the Mavs' handling of Luka credit. It wasn't easy to hold him out the first three games, but it was clearly the right medicine. Since he's returned there's been no hint of the calf injury and now he's in full flight headed back to Utah for Game 5.
In two games since a 13-day break Luka has produced 63 points, 23 rebounds and nine assists. Pretty sure he feels healthy.
DONUT 10: MVP CHANTS - For ... Brunson? Sure Doncic was back in gear, but after yet another three-point play set up by fancy footwork in the lane in the second quarter, the AAC crowd serenaded him with MVP chants instead of Luka.
DONUT 11: TALENTED TRIO - Sitting courtside were past-and-present NFL quarterbacks Kyler Murray (Allen resident and Arizona Cardinal), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) and Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys). Pretty sure the Mavs should've canceled the halftime entertainment and let the quarterbacks just pass the ball around.
DONUT 12: THE JOY OF SIX - Jazz fans will surely remember this game and it will be a much different atmosphere Thursday night in Sal Lake City. (Especially if Mitchell's apparent hamstring injury is serious.) Doncic capped a personal 11-0 spurt with a Steph Curry-esque shimmy celebration after his third 3-pointer from his "office" on the left wing. Jazz backup center Hassan Whiteside later stopped a Luka dunk attempt with a hard foul that got him ejected. Utah's fans will be similarly frothy for Game 6.
"Going into Utah is going to be tough, but I think we're up for it." - Jalen Brunson.
