Inside Report: Mavericks-Jazz preview — Mavs tip off long road trip, try to sweep Jazz

Earl K. Sneed previews the Mavericks' Saturday night showdown with the Utah Jazz. The Mavs will try for their first four-game sweep of the Jazz, while also starting a six-game road trip.

SALT LAKE CITY — Although the Mavericks have sprinted to an NBA-best 24-10 road record, they admit that they will be greatly tested in the next six games — all away from Big D — as they try to add on to their 11th straight 50-win season.

The Mavericks (50-21) will put their stellar mark away from the American Airlines Center on the line as they begin their longest road trip of the season, making six stops on a 10-day journey. That lengthy voyage begins Saturday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz, a team the Mavericks have already defeated three times this season, in the first game of three back-to-backs.

And with only 11 games left on the regular-season schedule before the playoffs, the Mavs hope to utilize their depth to make it through the tough stretch unscathed.

“It’s a 10-day trip, we’ve got three back-to-backs, so for us to be a deep team maybe this is something that is to our advantage, having so many guys you can go to,” point guard Jason Kidd explained. “It starts in Utah and we’ve just gotta take it one game at a time.”

Kidd’s words could serve him and his teammates well as they try to sweep the Jazz (36-37) in the season series and do so in the hostile EnergySolutions Arena. Dallas hasn’t swept a season series with the Jazz since going 3-0 against the Utah franchise in the 2004-05 campaign. And the Mavs have never won a four-game season series with the Jazz.

But much has changed on the Jazz’s bench since the Mavericks cruised to a 118-99 runaway home victory over the Utah team on Feb. 23, which was the same day that All-Star point guard Deron Williams was traded to New Jersey in exchange for ex-Mav Devin Harris and No. 3 overall draft pick Derrick Favors.

Already making the transition from former coach Jerry Sloan to the current leader on the sideline, Tyrone Corbin, the Jazz haven’t seen much success since dealing Williams, including four straight losses coming into Saturday night’s showdown to fall out of playoff consideration. Plus, the Jazz could be without both Harris (hamstring) and fellow starter Andrei Kirilenko (bruised nerve in knee), after the two missed their team’s 121-117 overtime loss to New Orleans on Thursday night.

Still, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle says it is important that his team not take the struggling Jazz lightly, knowing any squad is capable of breaking out of a slump on any given night.

“This game is about how we’re playing right now. We certainly want to win the game, but we’ve got to play the style of game that’s gonna be best for us to get where we want to go and keep improving,” Carlisle said. “So, we can’t look at the [Jazz's] record or anything like that. Every team in this league is dangerous and you’ve got to have the appropriate amount of respect for them. And that’s the plan heading in.”

Carlisle is also charged with the job of building a playoff rotation in the midst of the road trip. Specifically, the coach is hoping to settle on his starting small forward spot, choosing to start Shawn Marion over Peja Stojakovic and sending newcomer Corey Brewer to the inactive list in a 104-96 win over Minnesota on Thursday.

In the starting five, Marion recorded 17 points while Stojakovic registered 16 — hitting 4-of-8 from 3-point range — off the bench in the win. Now, the question is will the coach continue to keep the two former All-Stars in their new roles?

“I’m not gonna say that this is written in stone at this point, but both Peja and Marion have played very well starting and off the bench. So, we’re gonna take a hard look at this,” Carlisle said.

“Whenever your name is called you’ve got to be ready to play,” Stojakovic added. “At this point of the season we all have the same goal. The main thing for all of us is we have to all be ready. It doesn’t matter how many minutes it’s gonna be, you have to be ready.”

Meanwhile, the Mavericks will try to build off a 2-1 homestand with back-to-back victories over lesser opponents — Golden State and Minnesota. And with the Phoenix Suns awaiting the Mavs’ arrival on Sunday, 10-time All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki admits that the road trip will only get tougher as the games rapidly keep coming.

“It’s one of the toughest road trips I’ve been on in this league … so it’s gonna be tough,” Nowitzki said “But we’re a good road team, we’re not scared to play on the road, we’ve won big games on the road before. We’re just gonna go out there, play hard and hopefully get some wins.”

Note: The Jazz-Mavericks matchup will tip off at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday night, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The team returns to Dallas to host the Denver Nuggets on April 6. The Nuggets lead the season series 2-1 including a 121-120 win over the Mavs in Denver on Feb. 10. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

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Fans can visit Mavs.com or call 214.747.MAVS for more information and a complete listing of regular-season home games.