Boban, THJ lead Mavericks to comeback win over Jazz

UPDATE: Aug. 10, 5:27 p.m. — The impossible has happened! Well not really. Boban and Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up big with Doncic and Zingis sidelined in a 122-114 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday afternoon. Boban finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes. THJ scored 27 points with 4 assists on 11-15 shooting from the floor.

The Jazz didn’t have Donovan Mitchell and we’re leading pretty comfortably all game. They opted to rest starters in the fourth quarter and dropped the game. Now, the Jazz are only 1.0 games up on the Mavs for the 6-seed in the West. Team clearly don’t care about matchups, but the Jazz really want to see Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the first round? I doubt it. This was a bad loss for Utah.

UPDATE: Aug. 10, 4:22 p.m. — So the Mavs are without both Porzingis and Doncic, so naturally Rick Carlisle is turning to the only man he knows who can get it done. BOBAN. Marjanovic started and is up to 14 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes at halftime vs. the Jazz. The Mavs are trailing, but it’s finally nice to see Carlisle just let Boban ride it out. We’ll see what he ends up with.

The Dallas Mavericks pulled off an impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, but they won’t have either of their stars against the Utah Jazz on Monday. Luka Doncic (ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (knee) have both been ruled out because of injuries.

It’s no secret that this duo produces a sizable chunk of the Mavericks’ offense. Doncic leads the team in scoring with 29.1 points per game, and Porzingis isn’t far behind at 20.1. Doncic also leads Dallas in assists per game (8.9) while Porzingis leads the way in rebounds (9.5) and blocks (2.0) per game. Dorian Finney-Smith, who scored a career-high 27 points against the Bucks and has tallied two double-doubles in his last three games, will sit out Monday with a hip sprain. Missing three key frontcourt players will affect Dallas significantly, and we’ll go over the fantasy basketball impact below:

Fantasy basketball impact

Maxi Kleber should benefit a ton from these injuries. The big man is averaging around 27 minutes per game in the bubble and is one of the few players big enough to play in the post for an extended period of time. His rebounding and scoring could see a significant bump without much competition. Boban Marjanovic is more of a wild card. He started against the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this week, but only played in the first quarter. He tallied 9 DKFP in five minutes. He averages 1.4 DKFP per minute and could have a big night if Rick Carlisle lets him get some burn. His $3,000 price tag in classic contests is enticing.

Doncic handles the ball a ton, so it’s safe to say that Trey Burke should see his usage rate increase without the All-Star playing. Burke showcased his offensive potential by torching the Houston Rockets with 31 points in 30 minutes. While he probably won’t put on a performance like that anytime soon, he upside as the Mavericks’ primary ball handler will make it hard to pass on him.