1/20 Utah at Dallas
6:30 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass
Opponent record: 13-27
Season series: Jazz lead 2-0
After facing the Phoenix Suns, the worst team in the Western Conference, on Monday, Utah will then have three days off before travelling to Dallas to take on the second worst team in the conference. It’s been surprising how much the Mavs have struggled this year, but so far with a 2-0 series lead, the Jazz have been more than happy to take advantage.
Utah’s first bout against the Mavs was a convincing 16-point victory early in the season before we truly knew how bad this Dallas team was. Their second meeting was similar to Utah’s first meeting against the Suns in that the Jazz gave up an enormous fourth quarter lead to allow Dallas back in the game.
Luckily, a much-too-early shot by Deron Williams gave the Jazz one final possession which Rodney Hood was able to use to charge down the court and sink the game-winning three. It was a great moment for the Jazz to get the win, but arguably even better due to the fact that it led to the birth of the Hood Shimmy:
https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/810243225218711552
The Jazz will still have to be on their guard in this game, however, as the Mavs are also much better at home and ironically hold the exact same home and road records as the Phoenix Suns at 8-11 and 5-16, respectively. Dallas is also currently on a two-game winning streak albeit against two of the worst teams in the conference in the aforementioned Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Still, despite Dallas’ struggles with scoring, they’re still one of the better defensive teams in the league and Dirk Nowitzki has looked healthy and has been playing some of his best basketball of the season recently. He’s averaging just over 20 points in his last three contests, his best three-game stint of the season so far.
Dirk Nowitzki is still out here getting buckets.https://t.co/erG4KiKT42
— NBA SKITS (@NBA_Skits) January 15, 2017
He’s a proven champion that will always come out ready to win, so Utah will have to contain him as well as the Mavs leading scorer Harrison Barnes who continues to play well as he averages 20.7 points per game on the season.
Nevertheless, the game will be on the second night of a back-to-back for the Mavs while the Jazz will be coming in well-rested and aside from one bad quarter, the Jazz have absolutely handled the Mavericks in their two contests so far. Not to mention, George Hill will be in action this time around (assuming there’s no Alex Len elbow attack Round 2 on Monday – knock on wood) so I’m pinning the Jazz as comfortable winners to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
My Prediction: Jazz Win
Final Score: Utah 105, Dallas 92