‘Demands A Lot Of Attention’: Dusty May Breaks Down Lauri Markkanen’s 8 3-Pointers In Utah Jazz Loss To Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS — Lauri Markkanen made 8 3-pointers Friday night, and all 8 of his field goals came from beyond the arc. The Utah Jazz lost 112-100 to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center for their seventh straight defeat.

Markkanen finished with 24 points and 8 rebounds on 8-of-20 shooting. He went 8-of-15 from 3-point range and 0-of-5 inside the arc. He scored 12 points in the first quarter and 9 in the third, and he entered Friday averaging 17.1 points.

Mavericks coach Dusty May said Utah runs good actions for Markkanen, who can shoot on the move. Dallas’ switching against him was crisper in the second half, May said.

“They run good stuff for him. He’s seven. He’s over seven feet. He’s got a quick trigger. He can shoot it. He’s not a stationary shooter. He can shoot it on the move,” May said. “He’s a veteran player. He’s done this at a high level for a long time, so someone like that demands a lot of attention.”

“In the second half, our switching was a lot crisper than it was in the first half, but they had a good scheme to get him good looks,” May noted.

Lauri Markkanen’s Third-Quarter 3-Pointers Tie The Game At 68

Markkanen made three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The first gave Utah a 60-59 lead, and the third tied the game at 68 with 8:02 left. Eighteen seconds later, an Ace Bailey alley-oop dunk off a Darryn Peterson pass put Utah up 70-68.

Dallas closed the quarter on a 19-6 run from a 70-70 tie. Utah went 7-of-19 from the field and committed 7 turnovers in the third, and according to play-type tracking data, the Jazz scored on 4 of their 22 half-court possessions in the period.

Peterson, the second overall pick in June, scored 21 points with 5 assists and 3 blocks. He had 12 of his points in the fourth quarter and went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line in it. He entered Friday averaging 12.6 points.

Keyonte George had 16 points, 9 assists, and 5 turnovers. Bailey scored 12 points with 6 rebounds, and Josh Okogie added 12 off the bench.

The Jazz committed 21 turnovers, which Dallas turned into 18 points. The Jazz played without Jaren Jackson Jr. (torn right MCL) and Jusuf Nurkić (right second plantar plate tear).

Utah has a lot of shifty guards, Santi Aldama said, and Dallas switched all the time against them. Aldama made his Mavericks debut Friday against the team that drafted him 30th overall in 2021.

“They have a lot of versatile guys, big guys. Markkanen, obviously, seven-footer, they can shoot the ball. He made like eight threes, something like that. So it’s very hard to contest, and he’s a threat all the time,” Aldama said. “They have a lot of shifty guards, so I think us just switching all the time, trusting our teammates being in the right positions is something that helped us.”

“But yeah, they have a really good team, so I don’t think the record shows it, but they have a very good team,” Aldama continued.

Dusty May Says The Utah Jazz Had The Dallas Mavericks Bogged Down Early

Utah shot 53.5% from the field in the first half, including 12-of-19 in the second quarter. A Bailey pull-up with 8:38 left in the second gave the Jazz a 40-32 lead, their largest of the night, and the game was tied 57-57 at halftime.

According to play-type tracking data, Utah scored 1.290 points per possession out of pick-and-roll ball-handler plays on 31 possessions. Dallas scored 0.714 on 42.

“The effort plays, the second shots, those allowed us just to hang around, and we didn’t have to dig ourselves out of a hole in the second half because Utah was playing well in the first half,” May explained. “They were making shots. They found some holes in our defense. They had us bogged down. It’s what they do. They limit passes. They limit assists, and they get you into this one-on-one battle. And they’re quick and fast, and they’re good individual defenders.”

Utah fell to 1-8. Its only win came Oct. 23, a 120-119 home win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Jazz play at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, and they host Dallas on Nov. 22.