Bitter return to court for Doncic, revitalizing end for the Jazz

The stars are not infallible. Luka Doncic is what it is. On his return to the slopes, despite the aura of Midas that he gives off, he was unable to convert a result that for them is a silver medal into gold. Because he had merit to recover from a bad start and end up competing until the end of the match. What the result has is that for the Jazz, in addition to the medal, it feels as if that gold were 24 carat.. In their case, the recovery does not respond to the game itself but to the entire tie: they were giving a very bad image, bordering on the worst because they did not have the rival’s main player in front of them and were losing, and now they face the next two games with some sensations much higher in temperature and quality than the ones they had hours before this fourth shock.

Utah Jazz beat 100-99 in an end with much to review. Rudy Gobert finally did damage in the zone, with his offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and with a alley-oop winner to a pass from a Mitchell with whom the gossips say that he gets along badly and that he does not pass the ball (the latter is true). Powell, who was unable to cover the Frenchman in the area, will receive the fiercest criticism: his entry was weak and at the last minute he was crowned, in a bad way, by missing two free throws that would have almost sentenced Powell’s victory. theirs. Doncic was unable to execute the last shot as he was double-defended and Dinwiddie, who was dropped the ball, missed. Because not every day everything comes out.

The oldest in the place already saw it. Luka Doncic would have a minute restriction but, from what we know of him, he thrives in these environments and it seems as if the pain is evaporating from his body like sweat. The Slovenian went over half an hour of play and contributed 30 points to the cause of his Mavericks. The penalty for him was that final possession in which he was prevented, because he had just hit a triple half a minute from the end that was given as a sentence. He looked agile despite the fact that the calf injury will not be completely healed. They have recovered him and now there are two games in which they will want to close the series before playing it à la carte, like last year, the seventh and final. Headed to that stage we go.

Doncic opened the game with two baskets and an assist to Powell, his best partner in the zone. It was going to be necessary to put him in the game because Maxi Kleber, a hero in the second and third games with his triples and the breaking of Gobert’s killing effect in the area, did not have his day: four fouls in five minutes practically ended his participation before the break. But on Snyder’s side there were answers. The criticism had made him react and it wasn’t even going to be with that lineup of short guys and Eric Paschall as center, or giving Rudy Gay a chance, not at all, it was time to fight with what they already had and it has paid off all the time. anus. Adjusting it, of course. Bojan Bogdanovic, who they said he did not defend, put pressure on Brunson at full speed to tire him out and have to force Doncic more. Inside, the one who made the wall was Hassan Whiteside, who had to demonstrate his usefulness as a substitute for Gobert. With all this, the Jazz began to build from the defense and drew the claw of an audience that pushed them well all night. The communion was done. All told, to see how difficult the Mavs make it, the Jazz only managed to get ahead on the last play of the opening quarter.

Clarkson became the Jazz’s most potent weapon in the first half. He opened the field and closed it in front of him to put most of the balls that came to him. He bad-mouthed Mitchell, who took another day to get to the game, and a Conley who isn’t even a shadow of himself. With the escort of Filipino origin to the fullest, the trend was reversed. Control was now in the hands of Utah, who was leading the scoreboard with distances of ten points or more. Doncic’s entrance in the final stretch of the second period was the necessary calm for the Mavs, who at that point were seriously lost. The local defense was killing them and neither Bullock nor Bertans nor -above all- Dinwiddie, today a substitute, were getting shots from other days. At halftime, +12 for Utah.

Dallas is a dog team, they know how to make the best of their circumstances to assert themselves. On a night of low success, he continued to bet on safe values, like Brunson, and that they would direct the operations until they reached the end. At Doncic’s bench moment in the third quarter everything was blown up: four triples, two from Jalen and two from Dorian, knocked down the deficit and put the Texans up again. At the time of the surprises that please the eyes, Juancho Hernangómez appeared to sustain that rush in the Jazz with a shot of three from his account and two very good defenses. And there, at the stroke of midnight in Spain, everything seemed ready for one of those endings in which you can’t blink. That’s how it went. Gobert started to be a torment on the rebound, where he swelled up, but he didn’t convert as many points because he was failing on free throws. Doncic, who knows how he is, tried to get a few more fouls out of him and make him itch with him. Facing the long Frenchman, with a step back that he does so well and looking into his eyes warning him seconds before, he made that frontal shot with which he almost gave the victory and a huge advantage in the series to the Mavs. But, no, the one who was going to miss the shots while standing was going to be someone else. Dwight Powell missed both of his chances in the final minute and Rudy Gobert answered with quick, poorly defended action.

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