As the 2017-2018 Dallas Mavericks season heads down the home stretch, many people might say they’re looking forward to the draft and offseason more than any remaining games. From the terrible off the court scandals that have rocked the franchise the last several weeks to the absolutely insufferable “fans” on Twitter who get upset anytime the Mavs make a single basket, this season frankly can’t end soon enough. Thursday night the Mavs will get one step closer to finishing the campaign when they host the red hot Utah Jazz.
The Jazz, currently 8th in the Western Conference standings, will surely come to the American Airlines Center with a fire under them after suffering a confounding 99-94 loss at the hands of the 21-50 Atlanta Hawks at home on Tuesday night. Utah entered the contest with a nine game winning streak and a stretch of winning 21 out of their last 23 games. It vaulted them from comfortably in the lottery to having a two game lead for the final playoff spot out West.
The surprising Jazz are led by rookie guard Donovan Mitchell and his 20 points per game. The 21 year-old was selected 13th overall in 2017’s draft and has been turning heads all season to help get Utah to where they are after losing franchise player Gordon Hayward in free agency last summer.
After missing a chunk of the season to injury, big man Rudy Gobert has announced his presence big time during Utah’s hot streak. The 25 year-old has been on fire in 11 March games with per game averages of 19 points and 14 rebounds, well above his career averages of 10 and 10, respectively.
For the Mavs, they’ve lost three straight games following their victory in New York last week. Dennis Smith Jr. sat out Tuesday’s loss in New Orleans and isn’t anticipated back for the next several games.
Utah has won both games against Dallas this season and will look to complete the season series sweep with a victory Thursday night.
Action will tip-off just after 7:30 and can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest. Stay tuned to Dallas Sports Fanatic for more Mavs updates.
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