Utah Jazz-Dallas Mavericks: Can the Jazz bench contribute to a win?

The Utah Jazz aim to recover from a bad loss to the Atlanta Hawks against the Dallas Mavericks, who are looking to end (or not) a three-game losing streak.

After a frustrating loss against the Atlanta Hawks, the Utah Jazz will be back in action on Thursday against another lottery-bound club in the Dallas Mavericks. As with their previous game, the quality of opponent should in no way allow the team’s sense of urgency to diminish. In an ever-tightening playoff race, every win is crucial.

Following this game, the Jazz will face the San Antonio Spurs (for the fourth and final time this season), before playing the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics.

Moreover, the Jazz’s recent setback dropped them from what felt like comfortable playoff positioning and a “can we get homecourt?” vibe to an “oh no, we may be an eighth seed facing Houston” feeling.

So it’s imperative that Utah takes care of business in the Big D. And in every other remaining game for that matter.

https://twitter.com/jacobrexlee/status/976304630169681921

In two previous match-ups with the Mavs this season (both wins), the Jazz held them to 90 and 89 points respectively. Continued defensive excellence will be key once again, but if the Jazz want to capture their third win over the Mavs, second unit success could go a long way toward securing it.

Key to winning: Bench Production

In both contests, Jazz-killer JJ Barea scored 17 points. Preventing this kind of outburst will keep the Jazz out of some uncomfortable situations down the stretch. Holding Barea to his season average of 11.5 points per game is a good goal.

The Jazz also need to counter the Mavs’ bench production by adding some bench production of their own, which has been a challenge for them as of late. Dallas had at least two bench players in double figures in previous games against the Jazz, who had none in their loss to Atlanta.

On the season, the Jazz bench has averaged over 35 points per game, but over the last 10 has averaged just 24.5 per contest. That’s a bottom 10 number and one that needs to be rectified.

Dante Exum could potentially make a huge difference in this department.

This will be Exum’s third game back from injury and he’s really struggled to lead the team thus far. He has flashes — which could be the motto of his career — but the team has struggled to score when he’s been on the floor since his return.

Ideally, the game will start to slow down for him again very soon. That may be the key to having a successful bench sans Rodney Hood.

Bench play aside, focus and consistency are as important as ever. Reducing mistakes, not being complacent and putting forth energy and effort will yield wins. Particularly against a team like Dallas; when the Jazz do those things, they are a top-five team in the NBA.

Earlier, J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston wrote about the importance of this upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks. How the Jazz come out to play vs. Dallas may very well indicate how they fare through the rest of this season and determine their playoff fate.

Let’s hope the Hawks game serves as a wake-up call to get back on track and take care of business against the blatantly tanking Mavericks.

Tip-off between the Jazz and the Mavs from Dallas is at 6:30 PM mt.