The Dallas Mavericks survived Luka Doncic's calf injury and defeated the Utah Jazz. Ahead of their next matchup in the NBA playoffs against the Phoenix Suns, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd is kicking the Jazz while they are down by blasting one of their stars, Rudy Gobert.

Ahead of Monday night's Game 1, Kidd explained to reporters that Suns big men Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee will be tougher to handle than Jazz big men Gobert and Hassan Whiteside. The Phoenix bigs will indeed be harder to contain.

Ayton averaged 17.2 points per game this past season and has very impressive shooting touch on top of being a physically imposing player. McGee is a great athlete with long arms that make him a great player to toss lobs to. The Mavs will need to make sure Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber are ready to stop them on the inside.

Gobert and Whiteside are not very adept at scoring by themselves. The Jazz big men struggling to score close was a reason why Dallas was able to hold the Jazz off in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Not only are the Suns' centers skilled but they have Chris Paul passing to them. The Mavs will have to play great defense if they want to slow down Phoenix and make it to the Western Conference Finals. Although Dallas has a strong offense, their defense will be tested and the Suns have a stronger defensive infrastructure. The Mavericks will need to be at their best in order to keep advancing in the NBA playoffs.