Jazz fall flat on the second night of a back to back to the Mavericks

The Utah Jazz fell to the Dallas Mavericks tonight 111-103. The Jazz showed a valiant effort after entering the fourth quarter trailing by double digits, but ultimately they were just a step behind Dallas all night. Dallas has been playing really well recently so it’s no surprise that this game was going to be tough but the Jazz end their road trip on a sour note.

The Mavericks lead this game almost wire to wire to capture their 5th straight win. They are nipping at the heels of the Jazz for the 4th seed and this game was a big step towards overtaking Utah. Luka Doncic was spectacular for the Mavericks tonight with 35 points and 16 rebounds. The key for the Mavericks tonight, and during their current five game win streak, is the play of Spencer Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie finished tonight with 23 points and 5 threes. The Jazz had no answer for him tonight.

The Jazz needed this game to give themselves more of a cushion with the 4th seed. All is not lost but it’s frustrating to see this team struggle offensively when they have so much offensive firepower. Donovan Mitchell ended the game with 17 points but on only 5-19 shooting. Bojan Bogdanovic lead the team tonight with 21 points and 4 threes. Ultimately though, it’s the defense that looked tired & worn down tonight and that’s what cost them the game.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The Jazz finish their 5-game road trip with a record of 3-2 and now return home for 5 out of their next six games. The race for the top half of the Western Conference standings is going to be tight for the last ~20 games of the season and the Jazz need every win that they can get from here on out if they want to retain home-court advantage for at least one round of the playoffs. Hopefully, they can bounce back against the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.