In the middle of the third quarter on Thursday night, Jalen Brunson hit the basket, deviated from the defense and threw a pass back to Spencer Dinuidi in the perimeter. With only a few seconds left on the clock, Dinuidi had to make a quick decision. Thanks to Donovan Mitchell, he didn’t have to think much.
Mitchell rushed to Dinuidi and took two big steps, as if about to launch into the air to challenge a shot. Dinuidi saw this and didn’t even bother to look at the edge. Instead, he immediately dropped the ball on deck and walked past a completely unbalanced Mitchell for easy laying.
No one is watching the bad endings, but if anyone wants to do a YouTube mix, they can start with Mitchell’s effort, which was one of the worst you’ll see in a playoff game. Moments like this were too common for Mitchell and Co. as the Dallas Mavericks carved out the Utah Jazz’s perimeter defense on the road to victory in Game 3 126-118 and a 2-1 lead.
There are certain games in which you have to review and dive deep to find out and explain what is happening on the court. Other times, the action takes place in such a simple and obvious way that there is nothing to do but scroll the tape. Game 3 falls into the last category.
So, let’s do just that. Now we present, for your pleasure or disgust, depending on the team you support, Jazz’s attempts to stay ahead of the Mavericks on the perimeter. (In the interest of time and bandwidth, this is by no means exhaustive, but you’ll understand the point.)
First quarter
7:51: Brunson calls out the screen to get Mitchell on the switch, shakes it with a spin for an easy bucket.
7:22: Bojan Bogdanovic faced Brunson in the half-transition. Brunson gives way to iso and just dribbles right past him without even making a move.
3:52: Dorian Feeney-Smith adjusts a screen, then pops up at the top of the key. Jordan Clarkson turns and completely loses to Feeney-Smith for easy backing and scoring.
1:34: Daniel House Jr. is caught beating Brunson, who cuts the backdoor and breaks defenses, leading to a wide-open 3-pointer for Josh Green.
Second trimester
10:00: Dinuidi calls on the screen to get Clarkson on the switch, and sets him up for the ride, so Gober goes all the way to the middle of the free throw line to try to dissuade him, leaving Green wide open for 3. There wasn’t even a hit here, but Gober was expecting him to come, which was good enough for the Mavericks.
7:39: Brunson calls out the screen to turn on Clarkson on the switch and walks right past it to the edge with nothing more than a stuttering step.
7:14: Brunson uses another screen to get Bogdanovic on the switch this time. He retreats, then dribbles past him for one in the tough final.
5:18: Mike Conley tries to pick up Dinuidi early, so Dinuidi just distributes things and easily says goodbye to win a trip to the free throw line.
2:02: Dinuidi arranges another screen to get Clarkson on the switch, crosses it to get into the paint, and this is a wide open 3 for Reggie Bullock.
Third quarter
10:05: Brunson begs for a high screen to try to get Mitchell to turn on the switch, but that’s not even necessary because O’Neill just shows him a path right next to the one-and-one bar.
8:26: Jazz refuses to take Dinuidi in semi-transition, so he gains strength and puts Rudy Robert on a poster.
3:36: O’Neill is actually doing well and struggling to prevent switching, but that doesn’t matter because Brunson puts it in a blender.
3:06: Brunson tries to get Mitchell back in the switch, but the jazz doesn’t communicate, leaving Davis Bertans wide open for practice.
1:03: Bogdanovich is already on Brunson, so he doesn’t need a screen. He just dribbles calmly past him, pulls out the defense and creates an easy lineup for Green.
Fourth quarter
6:18: After the jazz dropped to one, the Mavericks put the ball in Dinuidi’s hands and set up a screen so he could go against Mitchell. A simple dribble and it’s easy to apply.
5:55: Next time down, same thing. This time, Mitchell simply picks up Dinuidi and the Mavericks guard passes through him for laying.
4:35: Conley tries to get into Brunson well above the 3-point line, but the pressure doesn’t matter. Brunson just goes to the left, as if there is no one, and ends up on the edge.
1:56: Another high screen featuring Clarkson and again Dinuidi cooks it to get into the paint. The defense collapses and Feeney-Smith drains 3 to return the lead to a two-digit number.
No tricks, no surprises. The Mavericks just dared the Jazz to stay in front of them on the perimeter and couldn’t do it and lost. If jazz doesn’t come together, the same thing will happen on Saturday in Game 4.
“I don’t think it’s a physical thing – I can protect, Royce can protect,” said Mike Conley. “We have to go back to sliding our feet and standing in front of our man … There is no magic scheme.”
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