Utah Jazz need to correct course vs Nowitzki, Mavs

Following a bad loss with potential playoff implications, Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz need a strong bounce-back effort in their bout with the Dallas Mavericks.

Let’s be real here — the Utah Jazz were never going to win every game for the rest of the season. Tuesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks definitely wasn’t good, but the streaking Jazz were bound to stumble eventually. That modicum of breathing room they had created in the playoff race wasn’t ever going untapped.

Now that a breath has been taken, though, the Jazz need to correct course against the Dallas Mavericks. Otherwise, the next breath could become their last gasp.

For their part, the Mavericks are looking to amass as many pingpong balls for the draft lottery as possible. Owner Mark Cuban has even copped to tanking publicly. Meanwhile, Utah squandered a chance to move up to No. 5 in the West against the Hawks and now finds itself clinging to the eighth spot in the playoff standings. The setback almost makes the Mavs game a must-win.

You would think that would be the perfect equation for an easy victory, but the Atlanta game goes to show that there’s no such thing.

Rick Carlisle remains one of the league’s elite coaches and his teams come to play. They sit at just 22-49 on the year, but the Mavs have wins over playoff contenders like the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets (twice each).

Dennis Smith Jr. and Harrison Barnes are the faces of the franchise now, but future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki could still give the Jazz fits. Nowitzki is quietly having one of the most efficient seasons of his career, posting a career-high .557 effective field goal percentage.

Jazz bigs will have to be diligent in their close-outs and recovery. Team defense will be key in disallowing Dallas from capitalizing the space created by Nowitzki, Doug McDermott and others. They don’t want the attention given to stretch bigs leaving someone like JJ Barea free to wreak havoc.

When these teams met in February, Barea notched 17 points and 12 dimes. His efforts played a part in the game’s outcome remaining very much in doubt during the fourth quarter.

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An upgraded offensive attack will also be important. The Jazz really struggled from deep against the Hawks, but Donovan Mitchell‘s individual struggles loomed largest. The Rookie of the Year contender is now averaging 20 points per game on the season, but is coming off a 9-of-28 (and 1-of-10 from 3-point range) performance.

His one-on-one match-up with a fellow first-year phenom in Smith (or Barea, should Smith sit as he did in Dallas’ last game) should serve as proper motivation for putting his best foot forward against the Mavs. And the Jazz as a whole need to play with a better rhythm offensively.

Really, the playoff implications of every win and loss should be enough for any Jazzman to remain focused on beating a Mavericks team that wants to lose. If they can do that, this game should be a win-win for both clubs.

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