Taking a look at some key moments that made a difference in the Mavs match-up against the Jazz
Little things make a big difference, both in life and basketball. I can think of countless examples in my personal life where clawing for inches made a positive difference and I’m sure you can, too.
I recently had a conversation with someone that has a basketball acumen I greatly respect – my brother, Rob Harris. He tuned into the Pod Maverick podcast on Saturday night, where I had the privilege to join Kirk Henderson and David Trink. Coming out of that episode, my brother suggested the idea that we at Mavs Moneyball cover some of the little things that can get lost over the course of watching a game, but which nonetheless have a big impact on momentum swings and ultimately the outcome. As a result of that idea, we welcome you to the first installment of Turning Points after the Mavericks defeated the Jazz 110-102 Monday night.
Turning Point: Kyrie Irving’s late first-quarter 3s
At the 59-second mark in the first quarter, Kyrie Irving missed a jumper that resulted in a Collin Sexton three for the Jazz nine seconds later. With the Mavs lead cut to two, Kyrie came back on the other end and canned a three of his own. After forcing a Jazz missed three, Kyrie once again nailed a three of his own with one second remaining. In less than a minute, a two-point lead inflated to an eight-point lead. This is an object lesson on why you constantly hear about closing out quarters.
Turning Point: Klay Thompson’s 3 near the end of the first half
With 33 seconds remaining in the half, Luka Doncic found himself on the free throw line. He hit his first attempt to give the Mavericks a five-point lead but missed his second freebie. Dereck Lively cleaned up the offensive board, turned and rifled a pass to Klay Thompson who was unsurprisingly in the perfect spot at the top of the three-point arc. Thompson calmly drained a three to extend the lead to eight on a four-point possession.
Turning Point: Luka Doncic’s third quarter technical foul
In the third quarter, Doncic got on the bad side of the refs and earned himself a technical foul. The tech came at the 7:26 mark with the Mavericks leading by 13. By the 6:16 mark, the Jazz had ripped off eight straight points to cut the lead to five and continued to hang around. Techs are like an error in baseball, as they are so often a momentum killer for the offending team that can too easily result in a positive burst for the opponent.
Turning Point: Luka Doncic’s 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter
For our final Turning Point of the evening, we have something of a two-for-one. After Klay Thompson extended the Mavs lead to eleven just inside the five minute minute mark, Dallas was poised to put this one away and get to garbage time. The Jazz had other ideas. Jordan Clarkson hit a three, Collin Sexton was awarded two more points on a Daniel Gafford goaltend and Kyrie Irving had an uncharacteristic turnover to make it a six-point game and more interesting than Mavs fans wanted.
Enter Luka Doncic, who hit his first three of the night to extend the lead to nine. Closing out from there, Kyrie hit two free throws and Luka added a layup around some key stops. The stars stepped up in the final minutes to get the win.
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