Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points to lead the Jazz Mavs 108-100.

SALT LAKE CITY – In the second game in a row that Luka Doncic doesn’t heal a sprained left ankle, Spencer Dinwiddie put on the scoreboard more than 30 points a night.

However, unlike Thursday night, when Dinwiddie’s 36 points helped the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Phoenix Suns, his 35 points weren’t enough on Saturday night as the Mavs went to a 108-100 finish against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena.

The loss took the Mavs down to 1-1 on this short two-game trip as they headed home with a 26-25 record ahead of Monday’s game at the American Airlines Center against the Detroit Pistons.

Dinwiddie played so well against the Jazz that they started doing to him what teams started doing to Doncic – doubling him to get the ball out of their hands. That’s how effective Dinwiddie was against Utah.

“Luca is one of a kind and cannot be copied,” jazz coach Will Hardy said. “But Spencer Dinwiddie does a pretty good job of getting close to them in terms of his playing style.

“He’s a hell of a pick-and-roll player (and) he’s a damn isolated player.”

However, Dinwiddie knows the Mavs are a much more effective team with Doncic on the court.

“He’s MVP,” he said. “We won’t get better without him. The game does not work like that, but we understand our role, we understand what we must do.

“Obviously I’m a person who has a bit more volume (without Doncic on the floor). We have to play a little faster and try to get some easy transitions because we won’t have that threat after the up and some efficiency in the half court with the way he draws fouls and stuff like that. But we will still be able to create good open looks for our shooters, like tonight, and we have to confuse them.”

Reggie Bullock (19 points, five rebounds) hit a powerful three-pointer that put the Mavs within 103-98 of the Jazz with 2:37 left in the game. But Lauri Markkanen hit his own three-pointer and then converted a free throw, and the Jazz built a comfortable 107–98 lead with 1:45 left.

Markkanen finished with a team-high 29 points, and the Jazz had a decisive 49–31 lead on the boards over the Mavs, including a 13–7 lead on offensive rebounds.

“Even (playing) small, sometimes giving up offensive rebounds, we just can’t give up on those three,” coach Jason Kidd said. “The only thing that happens is that we give up three after that offensive rebound.

“A tip or something like that, it won’t hurt you. Threes hurt you, and in that first half they got a lot of those offensive rebounds that turned into threes.”

Jazz lashed out at the Mavs pretty quickly. With Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton and Markkanen scoring seven points each, Utah went 34-23 after the first quarter.

This advantage increased to 66-48 in the half and to a full 19 points (74-55) in the third quarter.

“Markkanen will be an All-Star,” Kidd said. “He plays at an All-Star level and they have guys who can hit the ball without a hitch.

“It matches the height here. It’s hard to win here.”

However, the Mavs showed some savvy as they put together enough defensive stops and stance in their strides on the offensive end of the floor to get back into the game. With Dinwiddie scoring 12 points in the third quarter, the Mavs closed 82–76 from the Jazz after Dinwiddie’s 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

It was the third quarter in which the Mavs edged out the Jazz 28–18.

“They took advantage of the little details in the first half and I thought in the second half after we talked about it, the guys came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Kidd said. “Again, I love how we came out after the break and competed.

“We’re going to give up some offensive rebounding, we’re going to give up some layups. But the big news is that the guys put themselves in a position to win the game.”

And with the departure of Doncic Mavs knows it’s not too much to ask. Moreover, the Mavs also did not have second scorer Christian Wood, who had a broken left thumb.

“Overall, I don’t think this game was terrible, except for the first quarter, when we lost too many points,” Dinwiddie said. “But we had a really good third quarter – defensively, obviously – and we sort of picked it up. It’s just not enough.”

The Jazz picked up momentum early in the fourth quarter to take an 89–78 lead with 9:26 left in the game after Malik Beasley broke the 24-second shot timer with a long three and Markkanen hit a three. after the Jazz rebounded on offense.

“They win games when everyone thinks they’re going in the other direction and they’re training well,” Kidd said. “Will has done a really good job preparing his guys for success.

“But when you look at them, they play fast and loose and throw a lot of threes and enjoy it.”

The Mavs scored 18 of 46 shots from three-pointers (39.1 percent) and the Jazz scored 13 of 36 from downtown (36.1 percent).

“They hit some very timely triples,” Dinwiddie said. “I know Markkanen hit once, I think Beasley scored a couple of late hours when we ran. Again, if we don’t go down (by 19 points), then we’re in the wrong situation.

“But you also have to give them credit for hitting important shots, because if they don’t, we get down and score, it cuts him down again, it changes the game. But they’re shooting well and they’ve got a great three-point shooting team and they’ve been very energetic all year. Markkanen is likely to be an All-Star, and deservedly so. Beasley is a great shooter and they make big shots.”

In addition to Dinwiddie and Bullock, the Mavs received solid contributions from Josh Green (11 points, 5 assists), Dorian Finney-Smith (11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (10 points, 2 steals). But with Beasley (19 points), Clarkson (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Walker Kessler (14 points, 11 boards, 5 blocks) creating chaos, the Jazz were able to improve to 26-26 for the season.

“I think the guys did a great job in the second half,” Kidd said. “It wasn’t pretty, but to come out in the second half and play both sides, we just needed more shots to score.

“We have a lot of injuries, but the character in that dressing room is high. We think we can play in the second half. It’s not about injuries. We have to play with guys in uniform. That’s how the league works, and again I thought that the guys were fighting.

Twitter: @DwainPrice