Green, Hardy help Mavs surprise Jazz 124-111 without Doncic

SALT LAKECITY (AP) — Kyrie Irving hadn’t arrived yet and Luka Doncic wasout, so it was time for the Dallas youngsters to shine.

Josh Greenand Jaden Hardy each scored career highs of 29 points and theshort-handed Mavericks stunned the Utah Jazz 124-111 on Mondaynight after completing a trade for Irving.

“Luka (andIrving) are going to have their amazing nights, but if we want tobe a championship team it’s about the rest of us being able to stepup,” Green said.

The Mavericksacquired the eight-time All-Star along with Markieff Morris fromthe Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, DorianFinney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two future second-roundpicks.

Irving andMorris arrived in Dallas on Monday to undergo physicals and werenot available for the game. But their new team rallied behindGreen, who averages 8.1 points, and Hardy, who scores 5.6 pergame.

“We believedwe could win this from before the game even started,” Hardy said.“The Jazz didn’t seem like they were taking it seriously. They cameout late before the game to warm up, all nonchalant.”

When Greenwas on the court, the Mavericks outscored the Jazz by anastonishing 39 points and won their first game in eight trieswithout Doncic, their leading scorer with 33.4 points a game.

“The guysbelieved and Josh set the tone,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “Heunderstands how to play and he’s not afraid of the moment.”

Doncic (heelbruise) missed his third game in 10 days. The Jazz beat the Mavs108-100 on Jan. 28, when the Slovenian star was out with a sprainedankle. This time the Mavericks bested the Jazz in nearly hustlecategory, including a 49-37 advantage on the boards.

“It wasexemplified when (5-foot-11) McKinley Wright was boxing out (Utah’s7-foot-1 Walker) Kessler. The physicality for us tonight was high,no matter how small we were out there,” Kidd said.

After scoring12 total points over six games, Hardy broke out for his careernight and Dwight Powell added 12 points and a career-best 16rebounds.

“It was superfun,” Hardy said twice with a smile that didn’t leave his face fora long while.

JordanClarkson paced Utah with 26 points on 7-for-19 shooting and LauriMarkkanen added 19 — the first time he has failed to reach 20points in the last 21 games.

“They playedbetter than us. They played harder than us. Give credit to them,but I don’t think we were ready to play,” Markkanen said.

The Jazz arenow 7-5 on a stretch where they’re playing 11 of 13 games at home,when they hoped to gain ground on teams like Dallas, but are nowtwo games behind the Mavs.

The Jazzstruggle when their 3s aren’t falling and they often fail to getback on defense. The upstart Mavs led the Jazz 27-4 on fast breakpoints.

“This is thefirst game all season where I just feel disappointed in our focus,”Utah coach Will Hardy said. “We just did not have the necessaryfocus and attention to the little things. They had 27 points intransition and 24 second-chance points and that’s how we lost thegame.”

As could beexpected with different rotations and the end of the bench gettingsignificant minutes, the Mavericks looked out of sync at times. Butthey started running at every opportunity and went on a 23-6 runbridging the second and third quarters to take a 75-66 lead.

The Jazztrimmed the lead to a single possession in the fourth quarter butcould never catch the Mavs.

TIP-INS

Mavericks:Wright finished his first start with a career-high 10 points. …Davis Bertans (left calf strain) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstringtear) were out. … Dallas outscored Utah on second-chance points,24-12

Jazz: JarredVanderbilt, the subject of persistent trade rumors, missed hissecond game with back spasms. … Mike Conley, who had a game-high 11assists, turned his ankle in the fourth quarter but continued toplay after a timeout. … Utah went 6 of 31 from 3-point range buthad a 62-42 edge in the paint.