On April 24, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA playoffs continued. In today's Western Focus battle, the Lone Rangers played the Jazz away in The Fourth Round of the Series, leading the Lone Rangers 2-1 in the first three games. Before today's game, the Lone Rangers officially announced that Doncic will make a comeback and start in today's game.
As the first quarter began, Doncic quickly made an easy layup on the left side of the penalty area, hitting his first goal after returning, and soon he hit again on the right. At the end of the quarter, Doncic hit a 45-degree three-point shot on the left side, and had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-6 shooting in the quarter, and the Lone Rangers trailed the Jazz 23-24.
After the second quarter began, Doncic hit a mid-range shot. The Lone Rangers then struggled, with the Jazz winning consecutive tackles on the offensive end extending the lead to double digits. In the second half of the quarter, Doncic returned to the court, hitting a three-pointer at the top of the arc before hitting a half-time whistle-and-roll layup that ended the first half with the Lone Rangers trailing the Jazz 42-54. Doncic played 16 minutes in the first half, shooting 6-of-11, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
At the start of the second half, Doncic hit his third personal three-pointer at the top of the arc, and then caused Bogdanovic to foul and make two free throws, and the Lone Rangers narrowed the gap to two points in a wave of 13-3. The Lone Rangers blasted 39-24 in the 3rd quarter to end the 3rd quarter with an 81-78 victory over the Jazz, with Doncic having seven points, two rebounds and two assists in the quarter.
In the final quarter of the Showdown, Doncic started by two consecutive three-pointers, and the Lone Rangers were overtaken by one point in the middle. Doncic hit two foul shots after the timeout, followed by a mid-range rollover jumper. At the end of the game, 13 points bought Oh, Doncic rode a horse archery shot and hit a shot, and the Lone Rangers led by 1 point. After the timeout, Doncic hit a key three-pointer 39 seconds before the final game to lead the team by four points, and Doncic was very domineering and celebrated. But then Powell missed two free throws, Mitchell reached 2+1 and assisted on Gobert's dunk, and the Lone Ranger trailed by one point 11 seconds before the final game. Then Dinwiddie was deflected out, and the Lone Rangers had no choice but to lose the game.
In the end, the Lone Rangers lost to the Jazz 99:100 on the road, and the series was 2:2! Doncic played 34 minutes today, shooting 11-of-21, including 4-of-10 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, totaling 30 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, with a plus-minus of +7 topped the team. Considering that this is Doncic's first comeback, this performance is good enough, but unfortunately it did not win!
According to the schedule, the fifth match between the two teams will be played on April 26, when the Lone Rangers will return to play at home.