The Mavericks showed up to American Airlines Center ready for a Game 5 fight.
They answered in more ways than one.
With a few minutes left in their 102-77 victory, Utah Jazz defender Hassan Whiteside fouled Luka Doncic on a layup attempt and forcefully pushed the 23-year-old All-Star down on his back.
Doncic looked up in anger. Dorian Finney-Smith barreled toward the reserve Jazz center. Reggie Bullock pushed into the crowd to confront him, too. Mavericks lead defensive assistant Sean Sweeney hurried into the middle of the growing scrum as more players hustled over in defense of their franchise superstar.
Moments later, Doncic emerged from the scuffle and clapped his hands twice over his head.
On a night he dominated in every facet to extend the Mavericks’ first-round series lead to 3-2, Doncic had prevailed again.
Finals statistics in the pivotal first-round contest looked like this: Doncic: 33 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and one steal while shooting 11 of 22 from the field in 33 minutes in his second game back from a left calf strain.
Hassan Whiteside: two technical fouls and one ejection.
The Mavericks: their most forceful, complete postseason victory in years.
Of the 219 playoff series in NBA history that have started 2-2, 180 teams (82.2%) that won Game 5 went on to win the series.
Dallas will have the chance to seal the franchise’s first playoff series win since the 2011 NBA Finals on Thursday night in Salt Lake City or, if necessary, Saturday in Game 7 back home.
“He’s one of a kind,” Jalen Brunson said of Doncic. “Makes life a lot easier.”
The Mavericks wasted little time setting the pace and blowout expectation in front of a celebrity-filled crowd that included Troy Aikman, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray and Nastia Liukin.
In the first half, Jalen Brunson (13 points), Dorian Finney-Smith (13) and Doncic (11) combined to outscore the Jazz (36 points) themselves as the Mavericks defense held Utah and its No. 1-ranked offense to its lowest-scoring half this season.
As the Jazz missed their first eight 3-pointers and 15 of their first 17, Doncic and Brunson led a faster, crisper and more efficient attack with steady, physical drives into the paint and slick ball movement around the arc to keep Utah’s defense from settling in.
When Brunson got to the foul line midway through the second quarter, fans showered him with “M-V-P” chants as he completed a three-point play to open the Mavericks’ first double-digit lead (43-32).
A few minutes later, Doncic did the same — and received the same affection — after he pivoted, dribbled and then pivoted some more to work patiently around three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert for a reverse layup.
He strutted toward fans on the baseline, shaking his head with a smile.
Call it a prelude to the Mavericks’ third-quarter clampdown.
Doncic scored Dallas’ first eight points 2:52 into the period.
Soon after: consecutive 3-pointers after starting the game 0-for-5 from deep.
And then another all-everything sequence with a leaping block on the perimeter against Jordan Clarkson and then a 3-pointer from his left-wing sweet spot on the other end.
The swish extended the Mavericks’ lead to their largest of the night, 33 points (79-46). He stared down fans roaring back in adoration as Utah called timeout.
Doncic scored 19 points in the third quarter.
The Jazz also scored 19 points in the third quarter.
“It’s not hard to talk at nauseam about Luka Doncic’s ability to make plays,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “He plays in such an artistic way.”
Forgive Mavericks fans in American Airlines Center and around the Metroplex if the euphoria of the Game 5 beatdown gives way to an underlying nervousness ahead of Game 6 Thursday night in Salt Lake City, when the Mavericks can close out their first playoff series win since the 2011 NBA Finals.
After all, the franchise held the same 3-2, first-round advantage last June against the Los Angeles Clippers — and then lost two straight to waste Doncic’s dominance.
Several core Mavericks who experienced the letdown have vowed to make this run different.
They have a point.
Doncic ran what amounted to a one-man show the last two postseasons, but teammates have provided ample support this spring, including two wins while he rehabbed the calf strain he suffered in the April 10 regular-season finale.
Brunson continued a breakout postseason with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists Monday. Finney-Smith led the Mavericks’ defensive punch over a team-high 41 minutes, and Bullock would’ve joined him in high-minutes production if he hadn’t picked up a second technical foul in defending Doncic against Whiteside to trigger an automatic ejection.
All contributions alongside Doncic’s stardom positioned the group one win from the second-round goal they’ve focused on, talked about and worked toward every day since starting training camp late September.
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