By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Dallas Mavericks leveled their 1st round Western Conference series against the Utah Jazz at 1-1 despite not having superstar Luka Doncic due to an injury and won Game 2, 110-104, while the Golden State Warriors sustained their fine play and crushed the Denver Nuggets, 126-106, to go up 2-0 in their series matchup.
Jalen Brunson led the way for the Mavericks and filled the scoring void Doncic left after dropping a playoff career-high 41 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Brunson’s timely three-point baskets in the fourth also helped them mount a comeback after trailing by as much as 10 points at the start of the third quarter.
Maxi Kleber also came up huge after draining eight three-pointers out of his 11 attempts and finished the game with 25 huge points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Donovan Mitchell continued his waxing-hot playoffs run after scoring 34 points on their loss backstopped by Bojan Bogdanovic’s 25-point performance.
Meanwhile, in the other first-round matchup in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors asserted their mastery over Denver for the second-straight time.
Stephen Curry became an instant ‘Sixth man of the night’ after a classic 34-point performance despite coming off the bench for head coach Steve Kerr.
The NBA’s leading three-point king was unconscious from the field and drilled 5/10 three-point shots while converting 12 of his 17 attempts from the field.
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets had a strong start to the game and even grabbed the lead until the last four minutes of the second quarter.
Klay Thompson chipped in 19 points while the emerging Jordan Poole added 29 points during the lopsided win.
In the Eastern conference, Joel Embiid dominated the Toronto Raptors with 31 points and 11 rebounds and helped the Philadelphia 76ers take a 2-0 lead after their 112-97 Game 2 win.
