After meeting in the playoffs last season and already playing a close game earlier this season, it was no surprise that Saturday's showdown between Utah and Dallas came down to the end.
Despite a valiant effort from the shorthanded Mavericks, the Jazz had an answer for every Dallas run and took control in the final few minutes en route to a 108-100 victory.
"I want to give our guys a lot of credit," head coach Will Hardy said. "That's not an easy game to play in. … It takes a ton of mental focus to maintain an understanding of what's going on for 48 minutes. We stayed with it and executed what we wanted to."
After speaking with media on Friday following the announcement of the All-Star game starters on Thursday, Lauri Markkanen acknowledged that he saw who was listed for the upcoming showcase in February.
While his name was absent from the list — despite garnering a ton of fanfare and respect from the national media — Markkanen insisted that he would keep doing what he's been doing all season long.
"It happens if it happens," he said.
Markkanen more than lived up to his words in another strong performance on Saturday night against Dallas and its contingent of talented wing defenders. He finished with 29 points and five rebounds, shooting 11-of-20 from the floor and 4-for-8 from deep.
With opening-day starter Kelly Olynyk returning against Dallas, one of the first questions asked of Hardy was whether or not Walker Kessler — who replaced Olynyk admirably — would remain in the starting lineup or go back to the bench.
Without hesitation, Hardy said Kessler would start alongside Olynyk and Markkanen, giving Utah three 7-footers in their opening lineup. Kessler made good on the faith shown in him, finishing with his 10th double-double of the season and fifth this month.
Kessler stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. He was also dominant on the defensive end, finishing with five blocks, the third-most in his young career.
After beginning the year scorching hot from beyond the arc, Malik Beasley had cooled down in January after connecting on just 30.7% of his threes.
On Saturday night, he looked like his old self again.
Again giving the Jazz a huge spark off the bench — particularly in the second half — Beasley finished 5-of-11 from three-point territory en route to 19 points. He also added four rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes.
"I thought Malik took some good ones," Hardy said. "Malik is somebody that we have the utmost confidence in shooting the ball. Any good shooter can go through a slump, but I thought his legs had a little more pop tonight. … I thought he did a good job."
With two days off between games, the Jazz looked like a well-rested team in the early going after jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead following a three by Markkanen. After Dallas responded with a 6-0 run, Utah answered immediately with an 11-2 run, aided by a big three from Kelly Olynyk in his return.
A late 6-0 run gave the Jazz their largest lead of the quarter at 15, but then the Mavericks caught fire by scoring on three consecutive possessions to end the first. However, Collin Sexton was up to the challenge as he scored Utah's final seven points.
The Jazz led 34-23 after one.
The second quarter was a lot of back-and-forths, especially in the beginning.
Unable to fully break through, Dallas had an answer every time the Jazz appeared to be pulling away. But whenever the Mavericks looked poised to make it a close game, Utah responded with a big bucket or key steal.
A 5-0 run by Spencer Dinwiddie cut Utah's lead to nine with just over four minutes to play in the half — but that's when the Jazz turned it up. Beginning with a Beasley bucket and ending with a Clarkson three in transition, Utah's 7-0 spurt ignited an overall 18-9 run to the end half — punctuated by Beasley's three at the buzzer.
Utah led 66-48 at the break.
Once again, the quarter began with each team exchanging buckets — but two free throws by Clarkson gave Utah its largest lead of the game at 19.
However, Dinwiddie stayed hot for Dallas and helped ignite an 11-3 Mavericks run with two threes as Utah's lead was trimmed to 11. After Ochai Agbaji forced a Dallas miss at the rim, Sexton ended the run with a big bucket in transition as Utah's lead eventually went back to 16.
Back-to-back threes by Dallas ignited a 10-0 run as the Mavericks cut the deficit to six with just under a minute to go in the quarter. A Jarred Vanderbilt tip-in ended the run before Utah got a steal on the final possession.
The Jazz led 84-76 entering the fourth.
After a bucket by Markkanen to start the fourth, the game got a little chippy as Vanderbilt and Dallas' Davis Bertans received technicals as officials and teammates stepped between them.
Dinwiddie answered with a bucket, but Beasley and Markkanen hit back-to-back threes — the latter coming off a great save by Agbaji to keep possession — and Utah's lead was at 14 with just over nine to go. But the Mavericks refused to go away, coming out of the timeout to knock down back-to-back threes, and Utah's lead was back to eight.
After a Markkanen layup was followed by a Reggie Bullock three, Utah's lead had dwindled down to five — the lowest it had been since the opening minutes of the first quarter — with just over two minutes to play. However, Markkanen delivered the knockout blow with a three of his own on the following possession.
"I thought we were way more connected tonight," Hardy said of his team's defense. "We didn't give up many layups, which was huge. … I thought our rotations were good. They only had 28 points in the paint, which means we were able to maintain our concept without giving up points in the paint."
Clarkson finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Mike Conley chipped in four points, 11 assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Sexton finished with 12 points off the bench.
Utah now has three days off before they welcome the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.