Thus far, the Dallas Mavericks have every to feel confident about their first-round series with the Utah Jazz.
It’s not only that Dallas holds a 2-1 series lead after a convincing 126-118 win in Game 3. The Mavericks (-7 underdogs) also have essentially controlled the vast majority of the play with Utah, and they don’t even have their best player, Luka Doncic — who’s been out every game with a calf strain.
Suffice to say: If this is the best shot the Jazz have at their disposal, their season looks like it’s on the ropes.
To illustrate how much the Mavericks have dominated the Jazz — again, without Doncic — check out this amazing dunk.
With Dallas in cruise control early in the third quarter, Spencer Dinwiddie decided to put an exclamation point on a game that felt over with more than 20 minutes to go. And on three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert.
Watch this Spencer Dinwiddie dunk on Rudy Gobert RIGHT NOW. pic.twitter.com/4CDvEpJTqR
— InsideHoops.com (@InsideHoops) April 22, 2022
Whoa. There’s something so satisfying about hearing the breakaway rim smack, the referee’s whistle blowing for the and-1, and the home crowd going completely silent. All simultaneously.
From the very start of the play, when Dinwiddie saw the angle, Gobert had no chance. And there is no better symbolism for how this series is unfolding than Dinwiddie’s hammer on Gobert. It might as well have been a direct, wordless statement from the Mavs to the Frenchman and the Utah faithful.
It said we don’t need Luka Doncic to make this a short series.
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).
