Mavericks-Jazz Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Jan 19 2012 3:20AM

Since the start of 2012, no team has a better record than the Utah Jazz.

While much of their success has come at the expense of lesser opponents, they're starting to prove they can also beat some contenders.

The surprising Jazz look to add the defending champion Dallas Mavericks to their list of victims Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

Utah (9-4) has won eight of nine since New Year's Day, with its only blemish coming against the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime last Wednesday. The first six victories in this stretch came against teams with a combined 29-53 record, but the last two have come over Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Although the Jazz defeated a Clippers team playing without Chris Paul on Tuesday, the All-Star point guard also sat out Wednesday against Dallas (8-7), and Los Angeles won 91-89. The night before, Utah didn't just beat the Clippers, it completely overwhelmed them, winning 108-79.

The Jazz jumped out to a 13-2 advantage and led by as many as 34 in the opener of a four-game homestand. Paul Millsap had a team-high 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting and reserve C.J. Miles added a season-best 19.

"We are tougher to guard when you have four of five guys out there who can score and do different things," said former Maverick Devin Harris, who is averaging 8.6 points - one of six Utah players scoring at least 8.0 per game. "We don't just have one or two guys that others can focus on."

While the Jazz do a good job of spreading out the scoring, opponents first need to figure out a way to stop Millsap and Al Jefferson. Since Jan. 1, Utah is averaging 50.0 points in the paint, second-best in the league.

Millsap - averaging 23.3 points in the last four games - and the Jazz, however, could have some trouble against the Mavericks, who are allowing a league-low 32.4 points in the paint this month.

Although Utah is 7-1 at EnergySolutions Arena, Dallas is likely happy to arrive in Salt Lake City after losing back-to-back games at Staples Center by a combined five points.

The Mavericks, who saw their season-high five-game winning streak come to an end with Tuesday's 73-70 loss to the Lakers, appeared as though they might bounce back against the Clippers when Jason Terry drained a 3-pointer to put Dallas up 89-88 with five seconds remaining. But Chauncey Billups answered with a 3-pointer of his own with one second left.

Against the Lakers, Derek Fisher hit a 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play.

"We've got to keep on fighting," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Nobody said it was going to be easy, but we can't keep losing on 3s that end the game. It just can't happen. We've got to work that out."

Billups' basket put the Clippers over the 90-point mark, and that typically spells trouble for Dallas.

The Mavericks are third in the league in scoring defense at 88.7 points, but are 0-6 when allowing 90 or more points. They're 8-1 when yielding 89 or fewer.

The Jazz have raced past the 90-point mark during a three-game winning streak, reaching at least 106 in each.

While Dallas' defense has been solid overall, it could use more production from Nowitzki.

The 7-foot German finished with 17 points on 6 of 18 shooting against the Clippers and failed to score from 9:04 of the second quarter until there was 10:27 remaining in the fourth. He is averaging 14.1 points in the last eight games, topping 20 just once.

Nowitzki averaged 24.8 points on 63.2 percent shooting in helping Dallas sweep last season's four-game series with Utah.

Marion's 22 points lift Mavericks over Jazz 94-91

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted Jan 20 2012 2:27AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) After back-to-back last-possession losses, the Dallas Mavericks easily could have let another one get away.

Instead, the defending champs used veteran leadership to hold off the Utah Jazz 94-91 on Thursday night.

"We hung in there," said Mavs forward Shawn Marion. "We knew they were going to make a run. They're a young and energetic team. They play hard in this building. We kept our composure. We were able to respond after every run they made."

Marion, a 12th-year pro, scored a season-high 22 points, including a late layup off a pass from Jason Kidd. It came after a 3-pointer by Jason Terry broke an 87-all tie with 2:26 remaining.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and cooled off the league's hottest team.

Actually the Jazz were still pretty hot afterward in a game that saw four technical fouls called and second-year pro Derrick Favors ejected late in the third quarter after throwing the ball into the stands to protest a call.

"It's for sure we got fight," said Al Jefferson, who led Utah with 22 points. "We got to get that reputation around the league that we're not going to be pushed around. We're going to fight to the end. Dallas may have won the game, but they know they were in a fight."

The Jazz were down by 13 in the second quarter and by 11 in the third before rallying. Utah led by three early in the fourth after a dunk by C.J. Miles, but couldn't hold on.

"They had some big buckets down the stretch, and we had a couple of times when we couldn't convert and the stress got to us," said Miles, who finished with 17 points and hit a late 3-pointer for the final margin.

The Jazz lost at home for only the second time all season - the other came in overtime against the Lakers. It was only their second loss in the last 10 games overall.

"This is a big win," said Dirk Nowitzki, who had 12 points and five rebounds for the Mavs. "This is a tough place to play."

Nowitzki stoked the Jazz emotions late in the third when he slapped the ball out of Favors hands after Favors was called for an offensive foul.

Backup point guard Earl Watson stood up for his teammate, and tussled with Nowitzki on the sideline, drawing the first Jazz technical. Thirty seconds later, Favors drew a technical and ejection when he was called for another offensive foul and tossed the ball into the crowd.

"I was pretty frustrated," said Favors, who had 10 points. "I let my emotions get to me."

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin wasn't happy that the Jazz lost control. But he liked the fight, especially with so many young players seeing significant minutes.

Rookie Alec Burks played 22 minutes and second-year pro Gordon Hayward 27.

"Tyrone Corbin is doing a great job. They have lost a lot of key guys - (Andrei) Kirilenko and (Mehmet) Okur," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "These young guys are playing hard and playing within the system and their big guys are getting better and better."

Carlisle, who acknowledged before the game that this isn't the same Mavs team that won the NBA title last season, still feels pretty good about the group he does have despite the up-and-down season.

"We're making steady progress," he said. "But it is work. We got to continue with it. It doesn't happen overnight. It simply doesn't."

The Mavs were coming off back-to-back last-possession losses to the Lakers and Clippers, but they came out strong Thursday.

The Mavs led 59-50 at halftime but were up by as many as 13 after a 13-4 run fueled by Marion's running jumper and Terry's 3-pointer.

"We didn't come out with enough energy and intensity in the first half and they jumped on us," said Paul Millsap.

"That was the turning point of the game. You got to bring it."

Nowitzki and the Mavs slowed down one of the league's hottest players in Millsap, limiting the Jazz power forward to 2-of-7 shooting in the first half. Millsap had averaged 23.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in his previous four games but had just six at halftime and finished with 16 on 6-of-16 shooting.

Utah also had dominated in the paint in recent games was but was outscored 30-18 in the first half in that category and 48-38 overall.

Millsap said Utah was slow to rotate defensively and allowed easy layups.

Marion was happy to take advantage.

"I had some great positioning and I was able to get what I wanted to," he said.

"We know we're taking baby steps in the right direction. We're still just trying to learn from mistakes and get better every game."

NOTES: Mavs G/F Vince Carter missed his second straight game with a sprained left foot. Coach Rick Carlisle said before the game the injury is not serious, but that Carter would not rejoin the team on this road trip, which ends Saturday in New Orleans. ... Former Mavs swingman Josh Howard missed his third straight game for Utah with a strained left quad. ... Lamar Odom, who has struggled to find his rhythm since being traded from L.A., started 3 of 3 on Thursday and finished with 11 points. ... Nowitzki was whistled for a technical foul at the end of the first half.

Notebook: Mavs 94, Jazz 91

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Friday January 20, 2012 2:24AM

THE FACTS: Shawn Marion scored a season-high 22 points and Jason Terry hit a clutch go-ahead 3-pointer to lift the Dallas Mavericks to a 94-91 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.

The defending champs rebounded after an agonizing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, and led for almost the entire contest against the Jazz. Rodrigue Beaubois sparked the Mavericks with 17 points in just 18 minutes.

Al Jefferson had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Jazz, and Paul Millsap had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "This is a big win. This is a tough place to play. They're a great home team ever since I got in the league with [John] Stockton and [Karl] Malone. The crowd gets into it like no other place. I'm happy with this team win."
-- Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki on his team winning in front of a charged-up crowd

THE STAT: The Mavericks kicked their feet up and made themselves at home -- with their shooting. They were able to stymie several Utah runs with big baskets and shot a sizzling 52.1 percent. Their season shooting percentage entering Thursday's game was 43 percent.

TURNING POINT: Terry had little reason to take an important shot after he started the game 2-for-12 and 1-for-8 from 3-point range. But he's a confident veteran, and he got the ball in his hands with 2:26 remaining in the game and it tied 87-87. Terry, who has developed into a Jazz killer, then swished a go-ahead 3-pointer to deflate Utah and its crowd. On the Mavericks' next possession, Marion scored after a sweet assist from Jason Kidd to put the game out of reach at 92-87.

HOT: Beaubois was a tough matchup for the Jazz, as he created his own shot, moved well without the ball to get some baskets in the lane and also hit from the outside. His 17 points were a season-high and he shot 6-for-9. Dallas shot 63.2 percent and scored 34 points in the third quarter.

NOT: The Jazz had a rough time getting going when coming out of the locker room. They missed eight straight shots during one span in the first quarter. They missed seven of their first eight shots in the third period. In the fourth quarter, they shot just 29.6 percent. Devin Harris had a lousy game for the Jazz, shooting 0-for-7 while finishing with one point and two assists in 23 minutes.

QUOTABLE II: "It's the fourth quarter. The truth was Beaubois was exhausted so he had to come out. Jet's been there before. I've seen plenty of nights where he's not shot it good, and then in the fourth quarter he'll make a big one. He's our guy. That shot was as important a shot as we've hit all year."
-- Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on Terry's go-ahead 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

GOOD MOVE: Delonte West went up high and fouled Jefferson on a shot attempt in the first quarter. Jefferson caught West and made sure the Dallas guard didn't fall to the ground and risk injury. Jefferson held West on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before letting him down in a light-hearted moment.

ROOKIE WATCH: Utah's Alec Burks earned valuable playing time in the team's defeat. He started the fourth quarter on the court, and played nearly nine minutes of the period. He scored four of his 10 points in the fourth. Enes Kanter also started the fourth on the floor, and provided the Jazz with some rebounds and physical play. He had seven boards in 13 minutes and scored two points.

NOTABLE: The Mavericks earned their first road victory of the season over a Western Conference team. The Jazz fell to 7-2 at home. It was the 13th straight time Dallas has held an opponent to fewer than 100 points, tying a franchise record. The Mavericks have defeated the Jazz five straight times.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Saturday @ New Orleans, Monday vs. Phoenix, Wednesday vs. Minnesota. For the Jazz, Saturday vs. Minnesota, Wednesday vs. Toronto, Friday @ Dallas.

• Mavericks: Jones, Williams
• Jazz: --

• Mavericks: Nowitzki
• Jazz: Favors, Watson

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #18 Matt Boland, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 19911
• Duration: 2:22