Game 70: Dallas Mavericks (40-29) vs. Utah Jazz (29-40)

[dirkfansince1998]

You know why

Mavs allowed the Jazz to make one more run to justify it

[GATA]

Luka and Gafford shined tonight. Kyrie and Hardaway awful

[dirkfansince1998]

2nd half was fun to watch. Complete collapse from the Jazz. Probably won't get as many transition opportunities against better teams but the increased pace has been one of the big positives this season. Mavs were relentless. Never stopped pushing the pace.

[soog]

6th place!!!!

at least until the PHX game is over… but they are currently down! let’s go Hawks!!!

[Smitty]

This team is different. No more relying on the outside shot. Defense and paint dominance is the way. So much more enjoyable to watch.

[SwisherPrice]

Easy win...probably the easiest win of the season. I love the continued phasing out of THJ. He's just not needed anymore with this new style of offense. A team that relies on easy shots in the paint doesn't need a low-efficiency jumpshooter like THJ who is also not much of a passing threat.

Scoring guards/PGs: Luka/Kyrie/Exum + a little bit of Hardy
Wings: PJ/DJJ
Centers/rim-runners: Gafford/Lively
Stretch big: Kleber

That should be your guaranteed 8-9 man playoff rotation. Then maybe THJ and Green get a few minutes to just provide a rest for the others. If THJ makes a few jumpers and Green provides a few fast-break opportunities then great but the team won't really need them

[The Jom]

I hear ya. Utah is on the second night of b2b but Clarkson and Lauri sat out last night. They're expected to play tonight. If I was a betting man I'd take Utah +14.5 as that number seems hiiiggghhh...

I woulda agreed. And we woulda lost that bet. Yet another reason I’m (like you) not a betting man.

[Smitty]

I woulda agreed. And we woulda lost that bet. Yet another reason I’m (like you) not a betting man.

Good teams win, great teams cover.

[MFFL]

Lively struggling on defense. Has already lost his starting spot and is seeing a steady decline in minutes over the last few games. Gafford has been better in the same role and Kleber can do stuff that the other two cannot do.
Difficult to balance the development minutes vs playoff race. Would prefer to let him play through it but I can understand that the Mavs cannot afford to experiment right now.

He's played 50 games already this year. Maybe he hit the rookie wall?

[GATA]

PJ Washington is not a guy we want to resign. Look to trade him over the offseason. Not a guy that will ever help us much

[Smitty]

PJ Washington is not a guy we want to resign.  Look to trade him over the offseason.  Not a guy that will ever help us much

You couldn’t be more wrong.

[The Jom]

PJ Washington is not a guy we want to resign.  Look to trade him over the offseason.  Not a guy that will ever help us much

Good one. You must not like defense much.

[BigDirk41]

PJ Washington is not a guy we want to resign.  Look to trade him over the offseason.  Not a guy that will ever help us much

We need the dislike button back.

[soog]

6th place!!!!

at least until the PHX game is over… but they are currently down! let’s go Hawks!!!

Wait! Do we have the tie breaker over PHX!? Still in 6th place!

[Mavs2021]

Wait! Do we have the tie breaker over PHX!? Still in 6th place!

Yes we do.

also gets harded to argue for THJ over Hardy.

15.5/3.4/1.7/0.5/0.1 41/36/81
7.5/1.7/1.5/0.3/0.1  41/36/77

Twice the minutes, so basicaly equal and we all know THJ is trending down and Hardy is trending up. Younger player should have preference in such a situation. Being a better play-maker and imho defender recently, should swing the minutes more and more Hardy´s way.

[SleepingHero]

Have to give this the love it deserves. Sheesh what a dunk.

[omahen]

Not a high quality game but fun to watch. Taking care of business.

[MFFL]

We need the dislike button back.

Or the laugh button

[myconsumerclub]

Richie Holmes had 16 rebounds for WAS tonight against his old team so we need to thank him for his defense on Sabonis and shout out to him and give him some thanks for the assist to get us to 6th.

[Chicagojk]

Lively and Exum looked a bit off last night. Hardaway too. He is certainly not happy with his role, but that is a different story.

Exum had trouble staying in front of Sexton in the first half and Lively just looked a step slow. It certainly helps to have options now if a player has an off night. Lively has had some games where he is the better center, so they are a good mix currently. Now it was against a tired and bad team, but still it is nice to have more flexibility now.

I expect a more difficult game against the Jazz next. If I am the Jazz coach, I am taking the next few days drilling the team that it won't be another dunk show. Mavs should take care of business, but tricky beating a team twice in a row. Both teams seem not to like each other too much either.