Utah Jazz at Dallas Mavericks: Keys to the Game

Prediction: Jazz 102, Mavericks 97

Given the fact that this game is on the second night of a back-to-back against a gritty Dallas team that consistently hangs in games and has certainly challenged the Jazz this year, when I previewed the week I had actually picked the Mavs to win this game. Yet, while I hate to be a flip-flopper, I’ve actually decided to change my opinion as we head into the contest for several reasons.

First of all, the Jazz are clicking extremely well right now as evidenced by their current four-game winning streak. If they can even put up a semblance of the chemistry and offensive firepower that they’ve showed lately, they should be able to come up with a win against a mediocre Mavs team.

Also, last night’s blowout win shouldn’t have worn them out dramatically as the Jazz were able to sit Rudy Gobert, Gordon Hayward and George Hill for much of the fourth quarter. Therefore, despite playing on the second night of a back-to-back, I expect them to be relatively fresh.

Finally, the Mavs aren’t known for their depth anyway, so with injuries to key guys, they could be in a world of hurt against a very well-rounded and complete Jazz team. J.J. Barea, who has consistently been a Jazz killer, will miss tonight’s game along with Andrew Bogut while Deron Williams is listed as doubtful.

In Williams’ absence, the Mavs have received quite a boost from rookie phenom Yogi Ferrell, but it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to repeat his breakout performance against the Blazers with the lockdown defense of the Jazz in town and even his recent hot shooting won’t be enough alone to handle Utah’s depth.

Thus, I’m changing my original prediction of a narrow loss to instead be a narrow victory. It always seems to be a battle against Dallas and I wouldn’t expect any less this time around. But considering all the aforementioned factors, I’m confident pinning the Jazz as five-point winners.

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They surely outscored my prediction for last night’s game and could very well do so again tonight. But regardless of the final score, though, this would be an important win for the Jazz as they look to sweep the three-game road trip and take confidence into what will be the toughest game of the week on Saturday when Utah welcomes a red-hot Boston Celtics team into Vivint Smart Home Arena.

The combination of a win tonight followed by a win over a team like that immediately after a tough road trip would be an enormous step forward for this Jazz squad to prove that they belong among the elite in the NBA heading into the All-Star break.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com