Santi Aldama gave Dallas nine rebounds in 13 minutes Friday, a productive return after an absence stretching back to February. His eight points helped the Mavericks beat Utah 112-100 at American Airlines Center. The modest workload supplied an immediate contribution to a frontcourt that had room for another player collecting missed shots.
The timing of his contribution was important. Dallas and Utah were tied 57-57 at halftime, and the Jazz moved ahead 60-59 with 10:19 left in the third quarter on a Lauri Markkanen three-pointer. The game needed possessions won in less glamorous ways. Aldama’s nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end, fit that requirement immediately.
He had not played since Feb. 4 of last season, when he was with Memphis. Right-knee surgery followed in March, and he later arrived in Dallas as part of a six-team summer trade. That background explains why a 13-minute return was a reasonable starting point.
It does not predict whether his next appearance will bring the same workload, a larger one or another carefully limited shift.
What Aldama did with those minutes was concrete. He went 2 of 4 from the field and 4 of 5 at the foul line, but the rebounding shaped his value more than the scoring line. Dallas collected 21 offensive rebounds to Utah’s eight and finished with a 55-41 edge overall.
The Mavericks turned those extra possessions into 20 second-chance points, and Aldama helped create that advantage without needing the offense designed around him.
His third-quarter work arrived during Dallas’ best stretch. At 3:44 remaining, Aldama grabbed an offensive rebound with the Mavericks ahead 79-70. At 2:29, he scored on a 3-foot layup assisted by Walter Clayton Jr., making it 83-73.
Those plays were separated by other action, but together they show the sort of job Dallas needed from its returning big: extend a possession, occupy the interior and finish when the opening appears.
The Mavericks were not winning because their perimeter shooting had suddenly become reliable. Dallas made 9 of 32 three-point attempts, while Utah made 15 of 39. Markkanen supplied eight of Utah’s threes by himself and scored all 24 of his points from beyond the arc.
Dallas answered with 30 makes in 61 two-point attempts, 48 points in the paint and 25-of-31 shooting at the line. Aldama’s work belonged to that interior answer, alongside the free throws and second chances, rather than to some overnight change in the team’s outside game.
He also joined a frontcourt that had already been punishing Utah on the offensive glass. Morez Johnson Jr. played 24 minutes, scored 13 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, 10 of them offensive. Johnson’s offensive rebound at 7:06 of the third led to Irving’s 14-foot pullup five seconds later, putting Dallas ahead 72-70.
