Mavericks snap five-game skid in Utah - along with the Jazz seven-game winning streak overall - and push win streak to eight straight games behind a strong second-half performance from Dirk Nowitzki (41). (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)Time and time again through the early part of this season, the Dallas Mavericks (15-4) continue to impose their will in big-time contests. For a fifth time this season, the Mavericks have put an opposing team's winning streak of five or more games out to pasture.
The trend continued Friday night, as the Mavericks used another late game run to put away the Utah Jazz (15-6) in a hostile environment on the road.
"Dallas came out and beat us in the second half," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They really pushed the ball up the floor, and we had a tough time getting back on defense."
The Mavericks trailed 46-43 with 9:07 left in the third quarter, after a hotly contested first half saw neither team lead by more than seven points, before making their move.
Dallas outscored Utah 23-16 to take the lead going into the fourth, and jumped out 25-12 to start the final quarter to secure the largest lead of the game at 91-74.
Dirk Nowitzki led the way for Dallas, scoring 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. Jason Kidd added 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting (3-5 from behind the arc), and Caron Butler chipped in 16 to lead Dallas to it's eighth straight victory - pushing the Mavericks road record on the season to 7-1, second best in the NBA.
"We feel we can beat anybody anywhere," said Butler. "We are playing great basketball. The environment in that locker room is second to none."
Another key was how well Dallas was able to defend Jazz All-Star point guard Deron Williams; effectively using the zone and causing Sloan to say some of his players "looked confused" after the game. Williams, who came into the game averaged over 25 points and nearly 12 assists in the last four games, was just 4 of 13 from the field for 12 points to go along with seven assists on the night.
"We're still one of the best teams," Williams said. "This is one of those nights. Things didn't go our way. The Mavericks played better than us."
Utah shot just 39 percent from the floor as a team, led by Paul Millsap (21 points) and Al Jefferson (18), and scored only 81 points - the team's second lowest scoring output of the season. Dallas is now second in the NBA in points allowed per game (91.6) and first in field goal percentage allowed (.428 percent) 19 games into the season.
Dallas has flexed it's defensive muscle all season and now that the offense is finally starting to click (averaging over 102 points per game over the last six), this team is proving to be one of the best, if not the best, teams in the league in the early portion of the season.
What's Next
Dallas has a quick turnaround, traveling to Sacramento to take on the Kings Saturday night at ARCO Arena. The Kings are 4-13 this season (2-8 at home) and have lost 12 of their last 13 games.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. central time.
News and Notes:
- Only one Mavericks' starter played over 30 minutes against Utah (Nowitzki with 35) and both Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler were able to rest for the entire fourth quarter. This has been happening a lot lately due to the Mavs' ability to close-out opponents late and will pay dividends for these veterans late in the season.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
No comments:
Post a Comment