Luka Doncic, Mavericks beat Jazz in possible playoff preview

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Luka Doncic sees a big difference between the fourth and fifth seeds in the Western Conference playoffs.

It's all about the home court, and the Dallas star led his team Monday night to a crucial victory in that pursuit.

He had 35 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the Mavericks, who held on for a 111-103 victory over the Utah Jazz in a matchup of possible first-round playoff opponents.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points and Dorian Finney-Smith added 21 for the Mavericks. Dallas won its fifth consecutive game and pulled within a half-game of the fourth-seeded Jazz in the West.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points and Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who led for just 13 seconds in the second game of back-to-back and finished 3-2 on a five-game road trip.

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Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic lies on the court after being fouled on a shot-attempt in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Dallas, Monday, March, 7, 2022.  (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas can even the series in the final regular-season meeting at home March 27. Utah won twice in Salt Lake City this season, and the home team has won six in a row in this matchup going back to last season.

With a loss, Dallas would have trailed Utah by 2 1/2 games with 17 games remaining, and Utah would have held the tiebreaker.

"Four, you have the home advantage. That's a big thing," said Doncic, who also had seven assists and three steals, including a critical one late. "We've never had it since I've been here, so I think we're trying for the home advantage for sure."

If there is a playoff meeting