Jazz vs Mavericks game 6: Utah faces elimination

After an embarrassing beat down in game five, the Utah Jazz find themselves down 3-2 in the series against the Dallas Mavericks. They’ve struggled all series to find any offensive flow, and their defense has been absurdly inconsistent. It seemed like game four could have been a spark to light a fire under the team, but that proved to be a false hope. Now, coming into game six, hopes seem low throughout the fanbase.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, April 28th, 2022, 8:00 PM Mountain Time

Location: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

LOCAL TV: TNT, ATTSN-RM

RADIO: 97.5/1280 The Zone, or listen on the Utah Jazz app

Betting odds via draftkings.com

Spread: Mavs -1

Total: 210.5 (-110)

Moneyline: Jazz -105 Mavs -115

Uniform matchup

Keys to the game for Utah

Where are the threes?

The Utah Jazz have been wholly unable to generate three-pointers during this series. They’re shooting only 28.8 threes per game, compared to the 40.3 they shot per game during the season. That might not be a huge deal if that were the only issue. It’s compounded, however, by how few of their attempts they are making. They shot 36% in the regular season. In this series, they’ve shot only 27.8%.

So much of Utah’s offensive game plan relies on three-pointers. Dallas taking them away has been an enormous blow to the Jazz. Utah is overdue for a good shooting night. If they can find that tonight, that can change the entire feel for the series.

Donovan Mitchell

Photo by Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images

Donovan Mitchell has had a roller coaster of a playoff career. He’s had some historically great performances against Denver, LAC, and Memphis, but he’s also had some terrible series’.

So far in this series, Mitchell has reverted to the struggles of an inefficient scorer, desperate to put points on the board. While he’s averaging 26 points per game, he’s doing so with an atrocious 49% true shooting (37.9% FG, 19.5% 3P). He’s put together some dominant quarters and halves, but he hasn’t yet played a strong 48-minute game. He’s the leader of this team’s offense, and with him struggling so much, it becomes harder for everyone.

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