Dallas, TX — For a cold and rainy Monday night in Dallas, TX, the American Airlines Center atmosphere did not disappoint as the Dallas Mavericks took on the Utah Jazz.
With Luka Doncic out for yet another game due to an ankle sprain that he suffered in practice, the Mavs are still having to adjust without the star player.
The first quarter remained a close one finishing up with a score of 32-24, Utah. Bojan Bogdanoavic led the Jazz with 8 points and the Mavs’, Tim Hardaway Jr. put up 10.
With nine minutes left in the second quarter Dallas’ Willie Caluey-Stein had a massive dunk and let me tell you… it got the crowd RILED up! Keeping the momentum going, both Seth Curry and JJ Barea made nice shots before the Jazz decided to use one of their time-outs with 7:15 remaining to slow down the Mavs.
It was this timeout that a fan won free Whataburger for a full year by tossing huge foam French fries into bins. All I can say about this is wow, I’m jealous. Also, if you are reading this and don’t know what Whataburger is…you’re missing out!
Ok, back to regular schedule programming. The Jazz had a lot of momentum on their side this quarter as they did not seem to miss much. With 39 seconds remaining, Finney-Smith fouled Utah’s Donovan Mitchell on a three-point attempt. The fans were not happy about this one as the whole arena was encompassed with long booing. The half ended with the Jazz on top by 21 with a score of 71-50.
The Mavs would really need to amp it up and come out strong to start the second half if they wanted to walk away with a win. You could definitely tell that Dallas was playing more aggressive than they were in the first half holding the Jazz offense to only eight points in the first four minutes but wasn’t enough to take the lead.
Jalen Brunson took a hard fall to the face half way through the third frame and was able to step up to the line, making both free throws to minimize his team’s deficit to, 69-80. Kristaps Porzingis came out hot right after that, putting up a very crucial three-pointer to close the gap to eight. Utah wasn’t going to let them stay too close behind them thought as the third ended with a score of 100-84, favoring the Jazz.
Unfortunately with 40 seconds into the fourth period, Delon Wright went down hard and looked to be grabbing his ankle. He left the game immediately for evaluation and did not return for the remainder of the game for the Mavs.
With under under minutes to go, the Mavericks looked like they were going to make a comeback bringing the score within five points. It wouldn’t be enough though and the Jazz would pull this one off with a 123-119 victory over Dallas.
Mavs Head Coach Rick Carlise said that their biggest problem at home is their “starts to games” and that the team “has to play better from start to finish.”
Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with a game-high 33-points, said that they just want to “give the fans something to cheer about” when they play at home and that it’s been “unfortunate that [they] haven’t been able to do that on a consistent basis.”
The Mavs will now look to get a win at home this Wednesday as they face off against the Sacramento Kings at 7:30 pm.
By Abby Kowal
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