Another night, another tough victory for the Utah Jazz, who built a big first-half lead and then held on for a 123-119 road win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
The Jazz (35-18) have now won three straight games and sit in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
For the fourth straight game, Utah held onto a substantial second-half lead only to see it slip away in the closing minutes. Against the Mavericks, the Jazz led by 18 in the fourth quarter before Dallas' late run came up just short.
"Early on I think we did a great job rotating defensively, and we scored so it was easier to get back," Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen said. "Then in the second half we missed some shots and lost our focus on defense, but our bench did a really good job picking us up."
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score a team-high 25 points for the Jazz, while Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanović chipped in 23 points each. Rudy Gobert logged his 41st double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Emmanuel Mudiay (12 points and two assists in 15 minutes) also scored in double figures in the win.
"[Jordan and Emmanuel] won us the game tonight," Gobert said. "Their performance was huge."
Dallas (32-22) played without superstar Luka Doncic, who missed his seventh straight game with an ankle injury. Mike Conley (rest) sat out the second half of Utah's back-to-back set.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Mavs with 33 points, while Kristaps Porzingis added 28 points in the loss.
Monday's Best: Jordan Clarkson
Clarkson provided a much-needed scoring spark off the bench Monday, finishing with 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting (including 4-for-8 from three) in 31 minutes before he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Clarkson added five rebounds and a season-high eight assists, and he finished with a game-high net rating of +17. He's averaging 21.9 points over his last seven games.
Key Stretches
The Jazz owned the second quarter, using an 18-7 run near the end of the period to take a 22-point lead. Royce O'Neale and Bogdanović each canned a three, while Gobert threw down a dunk and Mitchell hit a mid-range jumper. Another dunk by Gobert—after Bogdanović put the ball through Porzingis' legs—and a layup by Joe Ingles put Utah up 67-45 with just over two minutes left in the first half.
The Mavericks, though, came out firing in the second half, making nine of their first 12 shots as they cut the deficit to three points. Mudiay grabbed a rebound and took it coast to coast for a layup, and then Clarkson scored five straight points—on a pull-up three and a layup. After a Dallas timeout, Mudiay put in a reverse layup and Clarkson banked in a twirling runner to put Utah back up by 13. Another three by Mudiay at the end of the third quarter and a transition jam by Tony Bradley to start the fourth put the Jazz up by 18.
A 12-0 Mavs run cut Utah's lead back down to seven, but Bogdanović hit a three, Gobert threw down a two-handed slam and Mitchell hit a baseline jumper to give the Jazz just enough of a buffer to preserve the win.
Significant Stats
+14
Clarkson (25 points) and Mudiay (12 points) led the way, but Bradley (six points, seven rebounds) and Georges Niang (seven points) also chipped in as Utah held a 50-36 advantage in bench points. Each of Utah's four reserves finished with a net rating of at least +8.
29
The Jazz were whistled for 29 fouls, compared to only 19 for the Mavericks. Clarkson fouled out, while Gobert, Mitchell and Bradley finished with five fouls each. As a result, Dallas shot 26-for-31 (83.9 percent) from the free throw line while Utah shot 16-for-21 (76.2 percent).
+19
Led by Gobert, who grabbed 16 boards and shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor, the Jazz outrebounded the Mavericks 45-26 and outscored them in the paint 54-34.
Notable
Utah shot 59.0 percent from the field and assisted on 27 of 46 made baskets. ... The Jazz also turned the ball over a lot (21 times), which led to 21 Dallas points. The Mavs only committed seven turnovers. ... Each team made 15 3-pointers. ... Besides Conley, Ed Davis (back) also did not play for the Jazz. ... Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle picked up a technical foul in the third quarter. ... The Jazz are 2-0 against the Mavericks this season.
Up Next
The Jazz will return home to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night in their final game before All-Star Weekend. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm MT.
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