UTAH JAZZ
Whiteside Crushes Shot By Brunson With Big Block To Start Mavs/Jazz Game
SALT LAKE CITY – Jazz center Hassan Whiteside swatted a shot attempt by Jalen Brunson during the first minutes of Utah’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Jazz hosted the Mavericks at Vivint Arena for Game 4 of the series on Saturday, April 23.
With 5:11 remaining in the opening quarter, Brunson attempted to put up a shot in the lane. Whiteside denied the shot with a massive block.
At the time of Whiteside’s rejection, the Jazz trailed the Mavericks, 13-7.
Following the first 12 minutes of action, Utah owned a 24-23 advantage. Whiteside had two points and one rebound in just under five minutes on the court.
During the regular season, Whiteside averaged 8.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 0.3 steals per game. In the playoffs, he’s recorded 2.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks.
Mavericks vs. Jazz
Luka Doncic will be available for the Mavericks when they face the Jazz in Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series.
Doncic has missed the first three games of the series with a calf strain suffered on April 10 but will be back in action in a crucial Game 4 matchup.
After dropping Game 1 at home, the Mavericks bounced back with impressive wins over the Jazz without Doncic or forward Tim Hardaway Jr. behind the brilliance of Jalen Brunson to take a 2-1 series lead.
Brunson is averaging 36 points per game over the last two outings while shooting 57 percent from the floor, 43 percent from the three-point line, while handing out 10 assists, and committing just one turnover.
The Mavericks are shooting 45 percent from the three-point line in their last two games on an impressive 44.5 attempts per game.
Doncic was the NBA’s third-leading scorer at 28.4 points per game during the regular season and the fifth-leading assist man at 8.7 assists per game.
The superstar guard led the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and usage during the regular season.
Kidd didn’t elaborate on how many minutes Doncic would play but indicated the team would monitor how the guard looked in his early minutes before assessing his availability for the remainder of the game.
Prior to the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Donic would be on a minutes restriction in Game 4.
“The plan is that his minutes will be limited in his first game back since suffering a calf strain on April 10,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
The Mavericks could use the added depth on the perimeter as both Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock are averaging more than 44 minutes per game in the playoffs, leading the entire league.
Utah’s game against Dallas is broadcast on TNT, AT&T SportsNet, The Zone Sports Network, and KSL NewsRadio.
