Judging by the first two meetings of the Jazz and the Nonconformists This season, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen Thursday when Utah travels to Dallas.
The teams played two very different competitions against each other. Dallas crushed visiting Utah 147-97 on December 6. On New Year’s Day, the Jazz completed an 87-point turnaround, crushing the Mavericks 127-90 in Salt Lake City.
After Thursday’s competition in Dallas, the teams will face off again on Monday in Utah.
Based on recent results, the pendulum could swing in Dallas’ favor. The Mavericks (40-29) have won six of seven outings, while the Jazz (29-40), in free fall, have lost three in a row and 14 of 17.
Utah’s slide continued Wednesday night in Oklahoma City with a 119-107 loss to the Thunder. The Jazz, playing without Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson, were within two after three quarters but were outscored 18-6 to start the final period.
“I thought we played a good 42 minutes tonight,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “I was really proud of our team’s effort and competitiveness tonight. The first half was probably as good as we’ve played in a while, which shows some growth and maturity.”
The Jazz led 54-53 at halftime.
Collin Sexton led Utah with 25 points and seven assists, but he was one of only three Jazz players to reach double figures in scoring. John Collins added 16 points and Taylor Hendricks added 12.
“Tonight was a really good example of progress from the team,” Clark said. “We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but there were a lot more positives than negatives in tonight’s game. We just had a part of the game that got away from us.”
The Mavericks are coming off a win despite a rough shooting night by one of their stars. Luka Doncic had a triple-double of 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds, but made just 6 of 27 field goal attempts in a 113-107 road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
“Yeah, that counts as a ‘W,’” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Not all victories are beautiful.”
Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 28 points as the team reached the 40-win mark and remained in contention for a top-six spot in the Western Conference standings.
“For not shooting the ball well, we relied on our defense to help us get this win,” Kidd said. “San Antonio is a team that puts a lot of pressure on your defense. I thought the guys did a really good job on Victor (Wembanyama) and (Devin) Vassell.”
Clarkson, who missed Wednesday’s Utah game with a groin injury, notched the Jazz’s first triple-double in 15 years in the Jan. 1 game against Dallas. He finished with 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds coming off the bench for his first career triple-double. It was the first time a Jazz player reached this milestone in the regular season since Carlos Boozer on February 13, 2008, in 1,256 games.
The Jazz were a different team entering 2024, as they were winning 12 of 14 games.
“An eighty-seven-point swing, it’s a little wild,” Markkanen said that night. “It feels good to start the year off right.”
–Field level media
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