The Triple Team: How did Luka Doncic lose John Collins for the Jazz’s game-winning dunk?

Three thoughts on the Jazz’s 115-113 win over the Dallas Mavericks from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Jordan Clarkson’s game-winning pass; Luka Doncic’s game-losing defense

Whether it’s the heel injury, aging, or just a small sample size, Jordan Clarkson’s had a somewhat different game this year. He’s taking fewer 2-point shots than he ever has in his career, and visibly, he’s struggled to gain the separation he used to at times.

But one benefit of Clarkson having been in the NBA for forever — 11 seasons now — and being relatively famous is that the opposition knows who he is and what his game is about: iso scoring. When he has the ball at the end of the game, you just know he’s going to try to get a switch, go one-on-one against his preferred matchup, and shake-and-bake to success.

Or so you‘d think.

Luke Doncic is 100% expecting Collins to come up and set the screen here, so Clarkson can iso him. So the Mavs are going to try to “pre-switch” — basically, Doncic would switch onto Collin Sexton, while Quentin Grimes, the better perimeter defender, would go up to the top to try to stop the Clarkson/Collins pick and roll.

Clarkson’s reading that, though. He confirmed after the game that the play didn’t come by accident — it wasn’t that he simply saw Collins open and whipped the ball to him. Instead, Clarkson really was trying to read the pre-switch, knowing there might be the opportunity if Doncic was over-zealous and switched too quickly. He was right, and the result was a game-winning dunk.

Afterwards, the online conversation was mostly about Doncic falling asleep on the play. But it’s not so much that it was laziness or lack of focus... instead, it’s that Doncic was too focused on one particular possibility. In his defense, it was the most likely one. But I give Clarkson and Collins real credit there for reading the play as well as they did — it’s the kind of veteran savvy that the Jazz’s youth could learn a lot from.

2. John Collins' 2024-25

John Collins has had a much improved 2024-25 season.

Many of the numbers are pretty similar: the shooting percentages, the rebounding numbers, the point totals, and so on. But I think there are some pretty notable differences:

• First, the assist numbers are much higher than before — actually, ever before in his NBA career. (So too are the turnover numbers, though.)

• The usage numbers are also significantly higher. The turnovers are part of that, but he’s also shooting many more shots per possession than he used to.

• Most importantly, the on-off numbers are night-and-day different. Last year, the Jazz were 4.7 points per 100 possessions worse when Collins was on the floor. This year, they’re 8.3 points better per 100 possessions.

The Jazz are using Collins in a different role, though: mostly as a power forward, mostly off the bench, and with a lot of the ball in his hands. Honestly, I think it suits him better: The aggression and quick shots offensively are much more acceptable when they’re being taken from iffy Jazz bench players, not Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler. And defensively, he seems to have found more joy as a roaming four than as a rim-protecting five after a rough season last year.

He’s spent his whole career as a starter, and leading into the season, it really seemed like it could have been a locker-room problem to bench Collins. Now, he’s playing better than he has in his Jazz career in a pretty versatile role, giving the Jazz what they need depending where he is.

I still suspect he’s not a positive trade value — he’s on pace to be a 5-win player, and $26 million is still pretty rich for that. But this is a big step in the right direction for his on-court value, and I give Collins real credit for that, too.

3. Kyle Filipowski is really impressive

I expected Kyle Filipowski to be a pretty NBA-ready rookie, as far as rookies go. But I didn’t expect him to be quite this impactful right away.

First of all, he’s just made excellent offensive decisions. He’s a capable screener, popper, and roller from the get-go; his footwork is terrific. When he has the ball in his hands, he’s making choices quickly, shooting, passing, or driving within a split second. Just doing the basic stuff well is half the battle in the NBA, that alone will get you playing time.

But then being a seven-footer who can push the floor in transition and nail a lob pass to your team’s other seven-footer? Come on now.

The Jazz were most impressed with Filipowski’s defense. Doncic, the mismatch hunter, picked on Filipowski for obvious reasons tonight: he’s a rookie, he’s a big, and he’s white. “I know the stereotypes,” Filipowski said, unprompted. “I don’t have to explain that any more.”

But he did a terrific job guarding Doncic. The Jazz’s scheme was to try to force Doncic into staying on the perimeter, and Filipowski moved his feet extremely well to force Doncic into staying out there. Doncic had a good night anyway (turns out he’s an excellent basketball player), but Filipowski wasn’t a liability out there at all. His ability to stay in front reminded me of that old Dennis Lindsey chestnut about Trey Lyles — his “proprioception” stood out. That looks to be even more true of Flip.

Filipowski looks like the most promising of the Jazz’s six picks over the last couple of years. It’s ironic that he was the last player drafted of the six.

Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.