For two and a half quarters, the Utah Jazz struggled to find any sort of rhythm on either end of the court.
But then head coach Quin Snyder did something unexpected — something that showed minimal promise in the regular season. Snyder elected to go small, using Eric Paschall at the center spot in place of Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside.
What transpired was some of the most inspirational basketball of the season, as Utah staged a ferocious comeback in game three of their first round series with the Mavericks. However, after cutting the deficit to one late in the fourth quarter, the Jazz ran out of gas late and eventually fell 126-118 to Dallas on Thursday night.
With the loss, Utah now trails 2-1 in the best-of-seven series — and will look to tie it up on Saturday afternoon at home. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. MST.
“You expend a lot of energy to cut a lead, it really wasn’t anything different over the course of the game,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “Playing Eric felt like it would give us an opportunity to open up the floor, and it gave us a good offensive burst. We were trying to make plays.”
The difference between the first and second half came down to one word: intensity.
The Jazz showed a lot of fight and heart over the final 24 minutes, constantly attacking in transition while making life more difficult for the Mavericks. Going small allowed Utah to not be spread out as much defensively while spacing the floor for themselves on offense and opening up the driving lanes.
“Our intensity was up another level,” Gobert said postgame about what changed. “I think tonight, I love the way we came out in the second half. We were down by 17, we came back to within one, we were right there.”
It came as no surprise that when the Jazz were able to claw back in the second half, it coincided with Donovan Mitchell finding his rhythm and spearheading the comeback.
After struggling in the first half when he was held to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting, Mitchell came out with an entirely different mindset. He went instant attack mode, not settling for jumpers, and got into the paint with relative ease. What resulted was 28 points in the final 24 minutes, another impressive showing for someone who continues to show up big in the postseason.
Mitchell finished with a game-high 32 points, shooting 10-for-21 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. He added six assists and two rebounds.
“Being in attack mode,” was Mitchell’s response about what changed. “In the third quarter, obviously we went small so spacing is different, and I’m able to get downhill and make the reads. For me, I’m trying to get downhill and not really force it. … Just trying to find ways to do throughout the game.”
While Mitchell continued his torrid run through the postseason, Bojan Bogdanovic also kept pace. He finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and two assists, showing his ability to score at multiple levels.
He was instrumental in the second half comeback as well, scoring 12 points in the third quarter when he knocked down two of his four three-pointers.
The Jazz — mainly Mitchell — came out with a mission to establish himself offensively, opening up the game with a tough layup before drawing a foul on the next possession. But the Mavericks continued their hot-shooting, knocking down five three-pointers as they led 27-20 after one.
The second quarter belonged to the Mavericks as the Jazz struggled to contain the Mavericks at the point of attack, finding themselves trailing by 13 with 2:39 to play in the half. But Jordan Clarkson appeared to help turn things around when his four-point play made it a nine-point game — but Dallas responded by ending the quarter on a 12-4 run.
Utah trailed 68-51 at the break.
The third quarter began with the deficit rarely changing — until Paschall entered the game with Utah trailing 83-66 with 5:33 to play. He instantly gave the Jazz a boost in energy and intensity, something he had down repeatedly throughout the season, as Utah went on an immediate 9-2 run. He punctuated Utah’s comeback in the quarter with a corner three-pointer as the Jazz found themselves trailing 97-91 heading to the fourth.
Still trailing by six midway through the fourth quarter, Mike Conley found his shot at the perfect time as a quick five points found itself trailing 103-102 with 6:42 to play. But that was as close as the Jazz would get as the Mavericks responded with a 6-0 run, pulling out the win in the end.
Conley finished with 21 points, six assists, and two steals, while Gobert added 15 points and seven rebounds. Clarkson finished with 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points and five assists to lead Dallas, while Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds.