Mavericks pursue back-to-back road wins in meeting vs. Jazz
After recording their first road win in over a month, the Dallas Mavericks will look to build on that success when they face the Utah Jazz on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Dallas ended a seven-game road losing streak on Tuesday, beating the Sacramento Kings 100-98 for its first road victory since Dec. 1.
The Mavericks have won two straight games heading into the matchup against Utah, which has lost five straight and nine of its last 11. The Jazz concluded a four-game road trip with a 129-125 overtime defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
The Jazz led by eight in the fourth quarter before Oklahoma City forced overtime by closing on a 17-9 run. Lauri Markkanen had 29 points to lead Utah, while Keyonte George added 25 points and 11 assists.
"I'm really proud of our team," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "That was a high-level game, on the road at the end of a long trip. I told the team that is competing at the highest level. If we can consistently compete like that as a group ... we're going to get where we want to go."
Dallas is seeking to even the season series against Utah after falling 140-133 in overtime on Dec. 15 in Salt Lake City. Rookie wing Cooper Flagg scored a career-high 42 points in the loss.
The Mavericks are monitoring the status of forward P.J. Washington, who missed Tuesday's game with a right ankle sprain and is listed as day-to-day.
With Washington sidelined against Sacramento, the Mavericks received another strong performance from Brandon Williams. The fourth-year guard scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute.
"I think when you look at Brandon, he's not short on confidence," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. "He was a big reason for our win (Tuesday), not just that (game-winning) shot, but our offense, he got us going there."
Flagg had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the victory, while Anthony Davis added 19 points and 16 rebounds.
The Mavericks also received a spark from center Daniel Gafford, who contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds.
"Gaff just impacts the game in a ton of different ways," Flagg said. "When he's down there using his size and just getting his hands on a ton of those loose balls, it's huge for us. It gives us more opportunities to put the ball in the basket."
The 6-foot-10 Gafford faces a tough matchup against Utah's pair of 7-footers, Jusuf Nurkic and Markkanen. The duo combined for 28 rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Oklahoma City.
Jazz rookie Ace Bailey returned after missing five games with a left hip flexor strain and had two points in 10 minutes off the bench.
Despite the loss, Hardy was encouraged by Utah's resilience against the league's best team.
"The next step and the thing you can only get going through games like that is learning how to win," Hardy added. "There are some things at the end of the game and in overtime that are within our control and we can execute better, and I think that's the part we can be hopeful for. If we compete like that ... we're going to learn how to win."