Recap: Mavericks 94 at Jazz 113 -- Short-handed Mavs stumble in Salt Lake City
Earl K. Sneed reports from Salt Lake City and recaps the Dallas Mavericks' loss to the Jazz Wednesday night, after a second-half collapse sent the Mavs back home at 1-1.
Recap: Mavericks 94 at Jazz 113 -- Short-handed Mavs stumble in Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY – Flying high after their 99-91 season-opening win in Los Angeles over the heralded Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks didn't have much time to calm their emotions before attempting to do it all over again.
Starting the season with a back-to-back on the road, the Mavericks looked to capitalize off their impressive victory in L.A. with another W over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena Wednesday night. To do so, however, both Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban agreed that the team would need a convenient case of amnesia in order to move to 2-0 on the young season.
"Well, the key to anything is to do it on a repeated basis," Carlisle explained. "Last night was a nice win for us and it's over. And now we've gotta come in here, and you can argue that this is as tough a place to play as there is anywhere. We've gotta do the same things, but we've probably gotta do them better."
"It was fun, but it was just the first game and there's a long way to go," Cuban added. "I think it was great for fans just to set a tone. Now, we've gotta get this one. If we come back and get this one, then we'll really open up some eyes."
The two then watched the Mavericks' players take the court again without the services of 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki (knee surgery) and center Chris Kaman (strained right calf), facing off against a new-look Jazz team that added several new pieces in the offseason. But after getting off to a quick start and out to an eight-point lead through the first 24 minutes of action, the Mavericks' tired legs would show while playing the first of 16 back-to-backs this season, falling to a 113-94 defeat just 24 hours after their big win in L.A.
Without Kaman available, Carlisle went to the starting lineup of center Brandan Wright, forwards Elton Brand and Shawn Marion, and guards O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison for the second straight night. And for the second straight game, Collison would engineer the Mavs' offense to perfection in the opening quarter, scoring eight points and dishing out three assists in the first 12 minutes of play to help the visiting team take a 26-25 edge after one.
Much like the night before, the second quarter would be the time for the Mavs' reserves to shine, allowing for fourth-year guard Rodrigue Beaubois to take over the scoring duties. But the young guard couldn't keep the Jazz from surging ahead by as much as eight, before Collison and Mayo swished in back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 11-2 spurt and regain the lead.
Back-to-back shots from behind the arc by rookie Jae Crowder was then followed by Mayo's third 3-pointer of the half, lifting the Mavs to a 63-55 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
Led by 13 points from Collison and 12 more from Mayo on a combined 8-for-12 shooting, the Mavericks' 54.8 percent from the floor through two quarters was more than enough to outdo Utah's 43.2 percent. Meanwhile, the Mavs connected on 10-for-16 from 3-point range to separate themselves on the scoreboard.
"We went on a big run to end the second quarter and it was clear they took it personally," Carlisle would later say.
Coming out of the locker room, the Jazz (1-0) would feed off its home crowd, scoring the first six points of the third quarter before eventually tying the game at 67-all with 7:53 left in the period.
"They imposed their will the first five minutes (of the third quarter)," Collison said. "We came out a little bit stagnant and we didn't necessarily have the ball movement we did in the first half. I take the onus on me. I should have got the ball moving a little bit more than it did."
The Mavericks (1-1) would then take a serious blow when eight-time All-Star Vince Carter was forced to sit down with five fouls, leading to the swingman being assessed a technical foul for arguing with officials as he sat down.
With his team in need of a spark, Wright stepped in and became the third Mav in double figures with his inside scoring. But back-to-back long-range bombs by Mo Williams would give the Jazz the upper hand, sparking an 18-2 Utah run the final 4:24 of the third period to put the Mavs in a 92-76 hole heading to the fourth.
"It was really the whole third quarter, it wasn't just the end. You get beat by 24 in a quarter, that's a convincing beating. We just didn't match their aggression in the third and that was the difference in the game," Carlisle confessed.
"They just came out running -- made some 3's, made some layups, and their energy level was really high when they came out the locker room," Wright added. "I'm pretty sure they preached that we played last night and it probably had an effect on us."
Unable to string together scores and defensive stops in the final quarter, the Mavs wouldn't recover the rest of the way as Randy Foye's perimeter shooting closed the door on the Dallas team. And despite the best efforts of Collison and Wright, the Mavs wouldn't have enough firepower to avoid splitting their first two games of the season after going down by as much as 20, before Carlisle finished the game with rookies Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Crowder alongside newly-acquired center Eddy Curry and Beaubois.
Leading the Mavs in scoring for a second straight night was Collison, who equaled his total from the win against the Lakers with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting, adding seven assists and four rebounds. Hitting 7-of-8 shots, Wright added 15 points, while Mayo and Carter both poured in 12 points.
The duo of Mo Williams and Marvin Williams led six Jazz players in double figures with 21 points apiece, helping Utah outshoot the Mavericks on the night, 42.7 percent to 37.6 percent, in addition to a dominating 61-40 rebounding margin.
"This is probably the toughest team to deal with on the boards," Carlisle explained, "because they come at you with waves of energetic big men. We got off to a bad start. [Paul] Millsap had six offensive rebounds in the first five minutes and it didn't get a lot better from there. ... It turned into a lousy night for us, but they had a lot to do with it and we've gotta be better."
The Mavs will now head back to Dallas to prepare for their home opener Saturday night against the Charlotte Bobcats. The game will air locally at 7:30 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest. Tickets for the game remain available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS or by visiting Mavs.com.
"Two good teams, two playoff teams from last year and we're 1-1. We would have liked to go home 2-0, but we've gotta go home now and protect the home court," Wright said while looking ahead.
