The Dallas Mavericks exited the dreaded NBA play-in tournament and found themselves in a more comfortable position heading into the playoffs.
Thursday evening. And how did they celebrate the occasion?
They came out and held a historic dunk-a-thon contest in front of the sold-out crowd of 20,277 at the American Airlines Center.
Luka Dončić scored 34 points and the Mavs piled 18 dunks into the net and went on to beat the Utah Jazz, 113-97. Coupled with the Washington Wizards’ superb 109-102 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, the Mavs (41-29) are now alone in possession of the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and with a half-game lead over the 40. -29 Kings, who slipped to eighth place in the West.
The Phoenix Suns, who have the same record as the Mavs, climbed to 7th place in the West.
Now that the Mavs control their own destiny by holding one of six precious playoff spots in the West, they hope to stay there or go even higher. Their quest to achieve that goal begins Monday when they face the Jazz again, this time in Utah to kick off a five-game road trip that also includes two games against the Kings.
In Thursday’s game against Utah, the Mavs put on a dunk fest that kept the Jazz off balance and kept Dallas in the position they continued. 
making easy baskets of opportunity after easy baskets of opportunity. The 18 dunks are tied for the second-most dunks in a game in NBA history, trailing only the 20 dunks the Los Angeles Clippers slammed into the basket on Dec. 21, 2019, while the Wizards collected 18 dunks in a game on December 1. , 2021.
All those muscles the Mavs flexed attacking the rim just proved they can now win games with their physicality inside the paint at a time when they have a reputation for relying heavily on shooting three points to win matches.
“When you just look at past teams, we weren’t very athletic,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We weren’t going to win the dunk contest in the warm-up line.
“I think now we can compete in the layup line.”
Dončić, who also had nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals, helped turn in the Mavs’ most athletic dunk of the night. The five-time All-Star dove on the floor near midcourt and beat Keyonte George to get it, then threw the ball blindly over his shoulders to Kyrie Irving, who promptly launched it high into the air , which Derrick Jones grabbed and jammed through the rim to give the Mavs a 65-58 lead with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
“It was a great play, man, a great play,” said Irving, who finished with 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists. “That’s when you know we’re rolling and we feel good when we make those unselfish plays on the fly and try to build momentum for ourselves.
“When one of our star players is on the field, then everyone has to step up to the plate, and that’s exactly what it is. This is the example we give and we
follow and I think it sets the tone for the rest of the team on what we need to do to win ball games. If (Dončić) is on the ground, we all have to get on the ground.
Being at the back of the crowd-pleasing play, Jones said: “Great play from Luka putting his body on the line to get the ball and get another play for us. I told (Irving) at the beginning of the season that if he was on a fast break and I was following him, he could throw the ball and make the layup, and I would be right there behind him to clean it up. .
“Or he can throw the ball in the air and I’ll go get it. We have already made this connection.
It was a night where Daniel Gafford had a great connection as he converted 10 of his 11 field goals and also made seven of his eight dunks in the second half, including four in the fourth quarter when the Jazz made a semi threat -light.
“Yeah, it was like one of those Wilt (Chamberlain) nights – 10 for 11,” Kidd said, referring to Gafford. “The quarterbacks love having him back.
“He has great hands. His ability to finish in traffic is something we haven’t had.
Utah cut its deficit from 100-81 to 106-95 to make things somewhat interesting. But Jones perfectly executed a quick dunk via a pass from Irving, and Dončić followed with a three-point play that gave the Mavs a comfortable lead, 111-95, with 1:04 to play.
“When you have talent, it’s always easy to say you’re supposed to win, but you have to put the talent together and trust yourself,” Kidd said. “Sometimes we want it to happen overnight.
“It’s March and we’re playing both sides of the ball. We don’t shoot the three as well as we’d like, but we always get wide open looks (and) the guys always take them.
The Mavs scored 62 of their points in the paint. And with Gafford completely abusing the rim, the Mavs were on track to win for the seventh time in their last eight games.
“(I was) really making the right reads,” Gafford said. “There were a lot of guys coming to help the guys (who) were going down the hill.
“It’s my job to get guys down. Whenever eyes are on me, just be in the right place at the right time to catch the lob or get a pass.
And Gafford didn’t just score 24 points. He also had six rebounds and five assists. It was the first time in his career that he had a game with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, and only the third time a Mavs center established such a stat line. The other two were Ron Tarpley (November 3, 1990) and Tom LaGarde (December 30, 1980 and February 11, 1981).
Irving, meanwhile, even participated in the dunk spectacle after catching a lofted pass from Dončić and scoring his fourth dunk of the season – one-handed – that put the Mavs ahead, 75-56, with 4: 32 to play. the third trimester.
“It’s vital for us to continue to attack paint and test teams at the rim,” Irving said. “(The dunk is) the most effective shot in basketball.
“I just want to continue to have that mentality to attack other teams. This can help us immensely as we prepare for the playoffs.
The Jazz scored all seven points of the game, but the Mavs responded with a 10-1 run, fueled by a three-pointer from Dončić. However, behind eight points off Collin Sexton’s bench, Utah held a 27-26 lead early in the second quarter.
But the Mavs did some nice damage in that second quarter, which helped them take control of this game. First, the Mavs opened the second 
quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 35-27 lead.
Then, after the Jazz closed to within 42-39 of the Mavs, Dallas finished the second quarter on an 11-3 run and took a 53-42 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Mavs’ cushion at halftime would have been greater without their 6-of-15 performance from the free throw line.
And with the dunks coming time and time again, the Mavs kept pouring it in until they built that insurmountable 19-point cushion. In the meantime, Gafford believes dunks are contagious and sends a message to opponents that life in the paint is akin to fighting alligators.
“It brings energy into the building,” Gafford said. “You get the crowd involved. That kind of feeds into the offensive end and then we get stops on the other end as well.
“(The dunks) pretty much added fuel to the fire. We go out and keep doing the same thing over and over again. (We) can’t be bored with it.
The Mavs, who shot 50 percent from the field, also can’t get enough of their new status among the top six teams in the Western Conference.
“We just have to keep it going,” said Jones, who scored 12 points. “We just have to continue like this and finish strong.
“We all know what we are fighting for. We just have to keep moving forward.
X: @DwainPrice
