Skip to content

Brunson 41 points, Mavs 22 made 3s to beat Jazz in Game 2

DALLAS (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 41 points, Maxi Kleber had 25 with eight of Dallas' playoff-record 22 made 3-points and the Mavericks, without superstar Luka Doncic, evened up their first-round series with a 110-104 win over the Utah
20220418230424-625e2c2e3c9fbbc365a0b01bjpeg
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) defends against a shot by Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson (13) in the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Monday, April 18, 2022, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

DALLAS (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 41 points, Maxi Kleber had 25 with eight of Dallas' playoff-record 22 made 3-points and the Mavericks, without superstar Luka Doncic, evened up their first-round series with a 110-104 win over the Utah Jazz in Game 2 on Monday night.

The Mavericks, in danger of dropping the first two games after opening the playoffs with home-court advantage for the first time since their NBA title 11 years ago, overcame a 10-point deficit after halftime.

Kleber, who had made only 19% of his 3-point attempts since the All-Star break, was 8-of-11 from beyond the arc when the Mavs needed them the most. His 3-pointer with 4:21 put Dallas ahead to stay at 99-98, and he then added another on the next possession.

Game 3 is Thursday night in Utah, where Dallas has lost its last 11 games.

Brunson, the starting point guard with Doncic out, became the fifth Dallas player to score 40 points in a playoff game. Doncic was one of the previous four to do that.

Donovan Mitchell had 34 points for Utah, while Bojan Bogdanovic had 25 and Jordan Clarkson 21. Rudy Gobert had eight points and 17 rebounds.

A 3-pointer by Clarkson put the Jazz up 60-50 early in the third quarter, and the only time Dallas led in that quarter was when Kleber hit a 3 with two minutes left for a 74-73 lead. But Bogdanovic then hit a 3, and the Jazz led 81-74 at the end of the third after a basket by Mitchell.

Dallas didn't lead again until a 3 by Dorian Finney-Smith with 6:12 left.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press