Mavericks hold off Jazz comeback bid to win Game 3
Shortly after the Memphis Grizzlies pulled off a comeback for the ages, the Utah Jazz appeared ready to pull off a similar feat against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. That attempt came up short, though, and Dallas held on to win, 126-118.
The Mavericks led by 17 at halftime, but Utah slowly chipped away at the lead until it was just one with less than seven minutes left.
Jalen Brunson again played the role of offensive hero for Dallas in Luka Doncic's absence. Brunson, who scored a career-best 41 points in a Game 2 victory, finished Game 3 with 31 points and five assists.
Unlike Game 2 when Brunson hit six three-pointers, the fourth-year point guard did his work inside and missed all four of his attempts from outside the arc. The rest of the team found plenty of success from deep, though. The Mavericks made 18 of their 42 three-point tries with Maxi Kleber and Davis Bertans both coming off the bench to make four three-pointers each.
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell had only four points at halftime, but came on strong to lead the comeback effort and finished with 32 points and six assists.
Dallas reportedly expects to get Doncic back in Game 4 from the calf injury he suffered in the team's regular season finale. The Mavericks now lead the series, 2-1.
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