Mavericks vs Jazz Preview and Game Thread: Short handed Dallas makes a go of things in Utah

Feb 7, 2023 - 1:20 AM

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The Dallas Mavericks (28-26) play game two of their long West coast road trip Monday night this time against the Utah Jazz (27-27). It’s the first game the Mavericks will have played since the blockbuster trade on Sunday afternoon where Dallas traded Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, and a 2029 first round pick for Kyrie Irving (and a Morris brother). Dallas will be playing extremely short handed tonight, while Utah is looking to pull over .500. Here’s the main details:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz
• WHAT: Trying not to get destroyed while playing short handed
• WHERE: Vivent Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• WHEN: 8:00 p.m. CST
• HOW: BallySports SouthWest

The aforementioned Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith are obviously out. Luka Doncic is out with his heel injury and not with the team. Davis Bertans is still out. Maxi Kleber is out. Frank Ntilikina is questionable, but one could argue he’s always questionable. Christian Wood is ACTIVE, so that’s something positive.

Jarred Vanderbilt is out for the Jazz.

This game might stink. There’s no other way around it. Perhaps Christian Wood and Josh Green score a lot of points and play some fun basketball. Maybe Jaden Hardy gets a lot of minutes and shots. But the Jazz offense might be too good. We’ll see though. We’ll have the recap and stats, though I can’t promise as to the quality. Yesterday took it out of us and we might stink too.