The Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks begin their first-round duel in the 2022 NBA Playoffs this coming Saturday. Which team draws first blood? Check out our preview of this Jazz-Mavericks 2022 NBA Playoffs matchup.
The big question for the Jazz is whether Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are on the same page enough to let Utah fully maximize the team’s potential. The two are undoubtedly the two best players on the Jazz’s roster and whatever their differences are, those had not really seriously hampered Utah in the regular season. In fact, the Jazz finished the regular season seventh in scoring with 113.6 points per game and10th in defense with just 107.6 points given up per contest. Utah’s efficient attack is key to breaking down the Mavs’ defense, and that could largely hinge on the Jazz’s outside shooting. The Jazz are making 14.5 threes per game on 36.0 percent accuracy. They even shot 37.4 percent from deep in four games (2-2 straight up) against Dallas this season, so far.
The Under is 8-2 in the Jazz’s last 10 games away from Salt Lake City.
As for Dallas, it is also dealing with a significant issue, as it doesn’t appear that Luka Doncic is 100 percent healthy, as of this writing. The Slovenian superstar suffered a left calf strain in the Mavs’ regular-season finale 130-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs at home last Sunday. Doncic is irreplaceable, but the Mavs’ backcourt has considerable depth with guys like Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie both ready to step up if needed. In three appearances against the Jazz this season, Brunson averaged 19.0 points, 4.3 assists, and 4.7 rebounds, while Dinwiddie had 18.3 points on 54.1 percent shooting from the field in as many games versus Utah in Mavs threads. And don’t sleep on the Mavericks actually outshooting Utah in the series, as they have knocked down an average of 15.3 three on 40.9 percent shooting against the Jazz back in the regular season.
The Mavs are 7-3 in their last 10 home games against Utah.
