The Jazz struggle at home and lose to the shorthanded Mavs

Feb 7, 2023 - 5:06 AM

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The Utah Jazz (27-28) fell under .500 with a loss to the Dallas Mavericks (29-26) on Monday night. Dallas was without Luka Doncic and has yet to see Kyrie Irving suit up for the team following the blockbuster trade. This was the perfect trap game for Utah.

After a strong 37-25 first quarter for the Jazz, it all went downhill. Mavs young guns Jaden Hardy and Josh Green looked more impressive than anybody in a Utah uniform. Dallas hit threes, but Utah didn’t. The Jazz couldn’t box out Dwight Powell.

The Jazz made a few runs to keep the game close, but they couldn’t stop Dallas from going on runs of their own. In the end, the three-point shooting and rebounding deficits were too much to overcome, and the Mavericks won 124-111.

Player of the game

This was a reasonably balanced game for the Jazz. Nobody was great; most players weren’t awful. Just about all of the main rotation players had decent stat lines. That said, Walker Kessler takes this one with 13 points (6-9 FG), nine rebounds, and three blocks.

Kessler continues to show that he belongs in the starting lineup long-term.

Honorable mentions to Jordan Clarkson (26 points, 12-15 FT), Lauri Markkanen (19 points, seven rebounds), and Mike Conley (10 points, 11 assists).

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Utah’s next game will be against Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves on February 8th, just one day before the trade deadline.