The Dallas Mavericks fall 112 to 107 to arguably the hottest time in basketball, as of late, the Utah Jazz.
In what could be a potential playoff matchup, the Jazz and Mavs battled all the way until the end. There were back-and-forth buckets from both teams, while they each shot over 43 percent from the field.
The stars battled all afternoon with both Luka and Donovan Mitchell contributing 25 points for their respective teams. However, what was intriguing was the matchup in the post.
Porzingis and Gobert are very big men
These two guys went back-and-forth all afternoon. There were blocks, dunks and plenty of aggressiveness on the boards. Porzingis even had a nasty back down and jam right in Gobert’s face, early in the third quarter, which was fun to see.
Rudy Gobert got the last laugh, though, as he scored 22 points while grabbing 17 rebounds and blocking five shots. He easily carried the Jazz to the closeout win. Porzingis, on the other hand, contributed 15 points and only two rebounds on the night.
Boban even got a crack on Gobert in the second half, but he didn’t have an answer either. Gobert was handling the seven-foot, three-inch Serbian in the post with ease.
4th quarter defense
Same story, different game – non-existent. All season long, this has been Dallas’ achilles heel. Will they ever be able to close out a game or keep their lead? Over and over again, the team loses a significant lead in the fourth quarter or they just completely and utterly fall apart.
That is exactly what happened this afternoon, except solely in the last three minutes of the game. Utah made six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter – including a three from Royce O’Neale with 38 seconds to play to put the Jazz up 109-107. Overall, you can’t let a team like the Jazz outscore you 32-23 in the final quarter of play.
Seth Curry loves the new starting role
In 35 minutes, Curry scored 19 points, adding four rebounds and four assists. He shot 4-5 from three and hit all three of his free-throw attempts, all while playing efficiently and not surrendering any turnovers.
Against Portland the other night, he had a 17-point night in only 25 minutes.
He had four three-pointers, shooting 6-11 from the field, and again, he didn’t have a single turnover. Expect to see him locked in the starting lineup moving forward especially when the Mavs face smaller teams.
All in all, the team had a great game this afternoon in Salt Lake City – it just didn’t end the way we all wanted it to. The team’s play on the road has been nothing short of incredible and historic, especially on the offensive side.
The Mavs now take their talents to Oklahoma City for their final game of this road trip. Tipoff is set for Monday at 7:00 pm CT on Fox Sports Southwest.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login
You must log in to post a comment.