The Mavericks were dealt a terrible break with the left calf injury Luka Donu010diu0107 suffered.
In the wake of that calamity, they talked defiantly. They put on their bravest face.
Then, at the end of Game 1 on Saturday afternoon, the cold reality set in that this is going to be brutally hard for the Mavericks without their superstar.
The Mavericks did a lot of great things in Game 1 against the Utah Jazz, but with Donu010diu0107 sitting on the bench in a spiffy sweatsuit, they just didn’t have enough punch.
Utah stole the opener and home-court advantage in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series with a 99-93 victory at American Airlines Center.