The Dallas Mavericks keep up well with the Jazz thanks to a strong offense and a well-intentioned guard trio. In the end, however, the individual class of the Salt Lake City guests is too much for the Mavs’ defense.
Even after Dennis Schröder put an end to the Utah Jazz winning streak with a brilliant performance, the team from the salt lake doesn’t really seem to have got off track. After the hard earned victory against the Dallas Mavericks – already the 22. Success from the past 25 games – brought the Jazz and Timberwolves to seventh place in the Western Conference.
The best man among the guests was once again Donovan Mitchell. The 21-year-old is the only rookie in the Association to score more than 20 points per game. Against the Mavs, Mitchell once again confirmed his strong form with 26 points, and he also had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and pocketed 11 of his 22 throw attempts.
“He has a unique blend of dynamic athletics and many skills: great range, an efficient throw and a lot of knowledge about the game,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle praised the opponent’s guard even before the match. Mitchell then proved exactly these characteristics directly before the eyes of the Mavs.
Both teams scored extremely well,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder summed up the action: “We didn’t manage much defensively today, but we hit a lot of throws. This is a dangerous game. I know we can do better.”
Led by the strong J.J. Barea (23 points, 8 assists), Harrison Barnes (21) and Yogi Ferrell (20) kept up with the Mavs over long stretches of the match thanks to good offense. Maxi Kleber also showed a good game and scored 9 points and 3 assists in 10 minutes. Only Dirk Nowitzki remained quite pale (4 points, 1 rebound, 2/6 FG).
The Jazz started the decisive run after the change of sides. All five starters of the guests scored two-digit points and so they used the third quarter to pull away to 15 points. Besides Mitchell, Ricky Rubio (22 points, 5 steals), Derrick Favors (19, 7 rebounds) and Joe Ingles (18 and 10 assists) acted on a high level. Rudy Gobert held the defense together again and contributed 11 points and strong 5 blocks.
Although Dallas fought his way back in the final minutes – when Kleber also had some good actions to show – with an 8-0 run to 6 points, the Jazz showed themselves no naked from the free-throw line. This was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Mavs, despite a solid overall performance.