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National Basketball Association
Utah 99, Dallas 93
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 16, 2022
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Officials: #39 Tyler Ford, #26 Pat Fraher, #52 Scott Twardoski, #19 James Capers
Attendance: 20013

Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points after a rough start and Bojan Bogdanovic had 26 as the Utah Jazz took advantage of Luka Doncic's absence to defeat the host Dallas Mavericks 99-93 in the opening game of their Western Conference first-round series Saturday afternoon.

Rudy Gobert grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the defensive effort in this low-scoring contest for the Jazz, who took both a 1-0 lead and home-court advantage with the road win.

Mitchell had a rough overall game from the field, shooting 10-for-29, and only scored two points in the first half before exploding for 30 in the second half. He also had six rebounds and six assists. Mike Conley added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Jazz.

Dallas played without its superstar Doncic, who was ruled out of Game 1 Saturday morning. He suffered a left calf strain in the regular-season finale Sunday against San Antonio. It's uncertain whether he'll be back for Game 2 on Monday.

Jalen Brunson scored 24 and Spencer Dinwiddie tossed in 22 for the Mavericks, who were limited offensively without their leading scorer. Reggie Bullock added 15 points, Dorian Finney-Smith had 14 and Max Kleber scored 10.

Utah, which struggled to put teams away after taking big leads this season, was up 86-75 in the fourth quarter when Dallas made a final push -- mostly from the free-throw line. The Mavs pulled within one with 2:12 left after a Kleber 3-pointer capped a 16-6 surge.

Kleber had a chance to put Dallas ahead but missed from beyond the arc on the next possession.

Royce O'Neal then had a big possession for the Jazz, hauling in his own missed shot and then nailing a 3-pointer for a 95-91 lead with 56.2 seconds remaining. Mitchell added some free throws and Utah's defense fended off the Mavs' final comeback effort.

Jordan Clarkson and Bogdanovic sparked the Jazz's second-quarter resurgence, which was capped off by a 13-2 run heading into halftime. Bogdanovic had 20 points, including a last-second 3 to put the Jazz up 45-43, and Clarkson scored 10 in the first half.

Mitchell came alive in the third quarter, scoring the first two buckets out of the locker room en route to a 19-point outburst.

Utah outrebounded Dallas 53-34 and shot 43.4 percent from the field compared to just 38.2 percent for the Mavericks.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Utah   Dallas
Donovan Mitchell 32 Scoring Jalen Brunson 24
Donovan Mitchell 6 Assists Spencer Dinwiddie 8
Rudy Gobert 17 Rebounds Jalen Brunson 7
Donovan Mitchell 10 Free Throws Made Spencer Dinwiddie 10
Bojan Bogdanovic 1 Steals Reggie Bullock 2
Rudy Gobert 3 Blocks Dorian Finney-Smith 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah 99 43.4 7-22 20-23 15 53 5 3 15
Dallas 93 38.2 9-32 26-34 17 34 4 8 7
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against Utah. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .596 after a win and .700 after a loss.
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Jazz have a W/L % of .633 after a win and .545 after a loss.