Another third-quarter letdown dooms Jazz as Mavericks eliminate Utah from playoffs in Game 6 of tight series

Utah’s season-ending Game 6 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night will be remembered locally for Bojan Bogdanovic’s 3-point miss with 1.9 seconds left that probably would have won the thrilling contest for the Jazz.

In Dallas, they will never forget the third quarter, when the Mavericks outscored the Jazz 36-19 to erase a 12-point halftime deficit at Vivint Arena and take a 77-72 advantage into the fourth quarter.

It was the Mavericks’ first playoff series win since 2011; Fourth-seeded Dallas moves on to meet No. 1 seed Phoenix in a Western Conference semifinals series that begins Monday in Phoenix.

“There’s no shame in the way we played. We got beat. That’s a tough one. We thought we were playing well enough to win that game.” — Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder.

The Jazz’s season is over, but it is hard to fault them for the final play, a well-executed inbounds pass that sprung Bogdanovic free. Utah’s best shooter had a great look, but the 3-pointer didn’t fall and Dallas escaped.

“No better guy than him to take that shot,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Bogdanovic was 3 of 6 from 3-point range, the Jazz 9 of 35.

Speaking of 3-pointers, the Mavericks used the long-range shot effectively to mount their third-quarter comeback. They were 8 of 12 from deep in the third quarter, then took an 80-72 lead when Maxi Kleber opened the fourth with another bomb.

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“We had some breakdowns in those situations the way every team would,” Snyder said

Coincidentally, Bogdanovic kept the Jazz from completely falling apart in the third, matching Dallas superstar Luka Doncic triple for triple at one point. 

If there was a stretch that proved brutal for Utah, it was after Rudy Gobert made a pair of free throws with four minutes left in the third to give them a 70-64 lead and slow Dallas’ momentum. But Reggie Bullock hit a 3-pointer and Kleber made a shot clock-beating floater.

Dorian Finney-Smith’s triple with 1:22 left in the quarter gave Dallas a 75-72 lead, and Spencer Dinwiddie got past Bogdanovic for a layup at the end of the quarter to put the visitors up five. 

After going 0 for 10 from deep in the first quarter, the Mavericks were 17 of 33 the rest of the way.

“The shooting in the third quarter, you tip your hat to them,” Snyder said.

Dallas played the isolation game, with Doncic up top controlling the ball and either driving to the hoop, hitting step-back 3-pointers, or finding guys wide open for 3s.

“Their spacing makes it hard, and it makes it hard when they have a guy who can fire it to different places (for open shots),” Snyder said, calling Doncic one of the top four players in the league. “It is virtually impossible to take that step-back 3 away from him.”

Doncic and Jalen Brunson scored 24 points apiece for the Mavericks, and Doncic had eight assists and nine rebounds. Doncic was 8 of 21 from the field, 4 of 10 from deep.

“There’s no shame in the way we played,” Snyder said. “We got beat. That’s a tough one. We thought we were playing well enough to win that game.”

Snyder went out of his way to praise his team for not falling apart in the third, as it did in Dallas on Monday, and credited Dallas for making some “unbelievable” shots while defended well. Brunson was 2 of 4 from deep, and both of his makes came with a hand in his face.

“I felt like tonight, we played our best basketball of the series,” Snyder said.

After Bogdanovic made a 3-pointer with 2:30 left to knot the score at 94-94, Brunson took a pass from Doncic and drained a triple from the corner. The former Villanova star made himself a lot of money with his play in the series.

Lost in the disappointment of Bogdanovic’s last-second miss was the fact that the Jazz had the ball, down one, with 11.6 seconds left and raced upcourt. But Mike Conley passed up a shot in the paint, was called for traveling, and the Jazz were forced to foul.

Conley had all eight of his assists in the first half.

Brunson hit one of two free throws to put the Mavericks up by two with 4.3 seconds left. After a timeout, Utah got the ball in the front court and did everything well except nail the ending.

“I am incredibly proud of this team, the way that we competed tonight,” Snyder said in what sounded like, to some, a farewell address. “Obviously, the result speaks for itself, but it was a pleasure coaching this group. ... This has been a great team to coach, and I love these guys. I love having the opportunity to coach them and grow with them.”

That subpar third quarter notwithstanding.