Mavericks Drop Embarrassing Game to Utah Jazz, 115-113

The Mavericks lose their fourth straight game, all in the clutch, this time to the Utah Jazz

Nov 14, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward John Collins (20) takes a three point shot against Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (13) during the first quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks went to Salt Lake City desperately searching for a win, having lost their last three games, all in clutch situations. To pick up a win against the Utah Jazz, they'd have to do it without Kyrie Irving, who was a late scratch with a shoulder sprain.

Without Irving, Jason Kidd decided to really shake up the starting lineup, rolling with Luka Doncic, Quentin Grimes, Klay Thompson, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively II. This is the first start of the season for Grimes, Kleber, and Lively, with Grimes' start coming as a small surprise given he was a DNP-Coach's Decision just two games ago.

Utah started Collin Sexton, Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Filipowski, and John Collins with the injuries to Taylor Hendricks and Walker Kessler.

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This new starting lineup got out to a good start defensively, with some great shooting from Luka Doncic and Quentin Grimes to open up a seven-point lead. Coach Kidd was clearly playing with lineups, as the first person off the bench was Dwight Powell... at power forward. And it kind of worked, at least on defense. Powell was +7 in his first few minutes in this game without scoring, but he did have two blocks and two assists in that time.

Dallas' offense couldn't take advantage of Utah's start, and the Jazz started to chip away toward the end of the first quarter. Turnovers and missed bunnies were a huge issue as the Jazz chipped the lead down to 26-25 in the final two minutes remaining in the quarter. Dallas would lead 28-27 heading into the second, which is just their fourth time leading the game heading into the second quarter this season. It could've been a much bigger lead if they (Naji Marshall, specifically) didn't miss a few floaters right at the rim.

Utah would take a 34-32 lead following back-to-back threes by Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, then a bucket by Cody Williams capped off an 8-0 run. Early fouls and bad turnovers kept Dallas in a bad position despite shooting it well from the floor and from three. For Dereck Lively to grow into a consistent starter, he can't have three fouls in six minutes as he did in this game.

The Mavericks finally retook a lead, 47-45, following some key shots from Grimes and Klay Thompson. Of all the players that could've been giving the Mavericks issues, though, it was second-round rookie Kyle Filipowski, who they were constantly losing on defense. In just his fourth career start, Filipowski had 13 points in the first half, which allowed them to hang around, with the Mavs taking a 64-61 lead into halftime. For the work they had done to contain Lauri Markkanen, who had just four points, Filipowski was making up for it.

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Lively picked up his fourth foul just 1:15 into the second half, which had to be frustrating for Jason Kidd, then his fifth a few minutes later with Daniel Gafford waiting to come in. Some of his fouls were questionable, but Lively kept putting himself in bad positions, something he'll learn with more experience. A three-pointer by Markkanen would give Utah the lead again, 75-73. The Jazz would hit two more threes after that to push the lead to 81-73 as Daniel Gafford left the game after slipping on a wet spot, putting the Mavs' center rotation in a tough spot. Luka Doncic would score five straight points to pull the game back within one possession.

Before they knew it, though, the Mavericks were facing a 12-point hole as the Jazz were on a 25-7 run to go up 90-78. Turnovers and fouls remained an issue against a bad Jazz team, but the Mavericks were beating themselves. They were hesitant to shoot, lacking energy, and in their own heads as they faced a 99-85 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

A basket early in the fourth quarter by Collin Sexton gave the Jazz their biggest lead of the SEASON at 16 points. Dallas would respond with an 7-0 run to knock it back into single digits, and then a Naji Marshall pull-up got the lead down to seven at 101-94. Dallas' run stopped with a Jordan Clarkson heave as the shot clock was expiring to push the lead back up to 10.

Kidd put Lively back in the game with his five fouls with a little under eight minutes remaining, and the Mavericks started to make a charge back, cutting the Jazz lead to 106-103 with a little over four minutes to go. Dallas had two chances to tie the game with open threes on the ensuing possession from Grimes and Marshall, but they missed both. Luka Doncic would tie the game at 108-108 with a long three over Filipowski though.

Dallas would retake the lead with 1:33 to go with a give-and-go between Doncic and Marshall leading to a lob for Lively. Jordan Clarkson would convert on an and-one for the Jazz to go back up 111-110, Jaden Hardy bricked an open three, then John Collins cleaned up a Jordan Clarkson miss to extend the lead to 113-110 with 36.7 seconds to go.

Luka Doncic drew a double-team on the next possession, and he dished it to Klay Thompson, who tied the game with 27 seconds left, but then Doncic lost track of John Collins, who slammed it home with 6.5 seconds to go. On the final possession, Doncic was double-teamed on a post-up, he dished it to Naji Marshall in the corner, who air-balled the shot, and the Mavericks would lose their fourth straight game, all in the clutch, 115-113.

This was the Jazz's first home win of the season as they moved to 3-8, while the Mavericks fell to 5-7.

It was the same issues for the Mavericks, who allowed 16 offensive rebounds, turned it over 17 times, and shot just 30.8% from the free-throw line. They have a lot of issues to fix; some of them could be fixed by getting healthy, but oftentimes, they're just not showing energy.

Luka Doncic led all players with 37 points and nine assists, but he also turned it over three times. He was 4/13 from three in this game, continuing a trend of shaky shooting from deep. Naji Marshall had a few sloppy plays in the first half but rebounded to finish with 19 points and three steals, but he too had three turnovers. Klay Thompson had 17 points and three turnovers, Quentin Grimes had 15 points (all in the first half), and Daniel Gafford had 10 points.

John Collins led the Jazz with 28 points and nine rebounds, Jordan Clarkson had 20 points, Collin Sexton had 16 points, Keyonte George and Kyle Filipowski had 14 points, and Lauri Markkanen had 13 points. Dallas just wasn't good enough defensively, especially in the third quarter, against a team that was dead last in offense entering the game.

The Mavericks return home to play the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

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