Utah Jazz look good against Mavs, but still have much to improve before facing Boston

The Utah Jazz looked good in their much-needed win over Dallas on Wednesday, but they have a lot of work still to do before Boston comes to town on Friday.

The Utah Jazz finally got back to their winning ways on Wednesday night by defeating the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 117-102. It was a much-needed victory considering that leading up to the contest, the Jazz had lost four consecutive games as well as four straight games at home, meaning that it was the Jazz’s first home win of the season.

The Jazz were able to get off to a quick start with a 30-18 lead after the first quarter that would grow to as much as 26 in the second quarter. Utah’s defense looked as good as it has all year (particularly in the first half), as they logged 12 steals and forced the Mavs into 24 turnovers on the night. Turnovers have been an issue for the Jazz this season, so their 12 giveaways in Wednesday’s contest was also a welcome sight.

For the most part, Utah’s offense looked sharp as well as they shot 48.3 percent from the field and a respectable 35.1 percent from deep. Unfortunately, the Jazz took their foot off the gas a bit in the final period of play as they allowed the Mavs to get back within nine, but once it was time to close out the bout, Donovan Mitchell and Co. took control and finished the game strong.

Speaking of Mitchell, he was one of the bright points of the contest. Despite missing Monday’s game with an ankle injury, Donovan looked energized and explosive on Wednesday night. It felt like somewhat of a quiet night for him by his standards (with the exception of a pair of rim-rattling dunks and a dagger three in the fourth), but he still managed 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting while adding seven assists.

I absolutely love seeing Mitchell shoot above 50 percent and log at least five assists. If he can continue that trend, I’m liking Utah’s chances of being an elite squad moving forward.

Despite fouling out, Rudy Gobert put together a solid performance as he finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. He also largely held DeAndre Jordan in check and was a force at the rim by logging four blocks. Derrick Favors also had one of his better games of the season as he looked engaged and athletic as well. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with a trio of blocks himself.

But perhaps the real story of the game was the play of the bench, most notably Alec Burks. Each of Jae Crowder (14 points), Dante Exum (nine points) and Royce O’Neale (seven points) were important contributors in the contest, but AB was lights out. Burks finished with 18 points that saw him go 60 percent from the field including an incredible 4-of-5 from deep. His lone miss from the perimeter was a desperate half court heave to end the third quarter, so in essence he was a perfect 4-of-4 on true 3-point attempts.

Not only that, but Burks was engaged and I’d go as far as to say dependable on defense. AB’s two biggest weaknesses historically have been decision making on offense and reliability on defense. If he can continue to put together masterful performances such as the one last night where he’s buttoned up in terms of both of those weaknesses, he could very well have a revolutionary season and elevate his Jazz team to a new level.

He was sensational on Wednesday, and looked exactly like the kind of player the Jazz have hoped he could be. I’m hoping that Burks can stay healthy and remain a force for Utah all season long.

On the other side, the Mavs were led in scoring by rookie Luka Doncic, who was impressive all night long. He put up a game-high 24 points which included shooting 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep. Make no mistake about it, Dallas has found themselves a special talent in the young star out of Slovenia. Outside of him, the Mavs enjoyed a well-balanced scoring effort from their starters, but shot the ball poorly overall, turned the ball over excessively and played poor defense.

While it was good to see the Jazz turn things around and overall post a dominant win, there were definitely also some troubling issues that they need to clean up, especially with the Boston Celtics primed to come into town on Friday night. With Gordon Hayward and Co. in Salt Lake City for what should be an electric atmosphere and a huge game between two talented teams with high aspirations, the Jazz will have to play a near-perfect game to win and certainly will need to be better than they were Wednesday and in games prior.

The first two things that stand out as areas where Utah will need to see improvement are in the shooting of both Joe Ingles and Ricky Rubio. Ingles is unfortunately in a bit of a slump which continued on Wednesday where he shot just 2-of-9 from the field which included going only 2-of-8 from deep.

After a hot start in the first two games of the year, Ingles has shot just 33 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from deep in the last nine games. In the last three, he’s an even worse 22.2 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from the perimeter. Not a good look for the self-proclaimed best shooter in the NBA.

The Jazz will need him to turn things around quickly so that he can get back to being a dangerous offensive weapon against a Boston team that thrives on the defensive end. If Ingles continues to shoot at such a poor clip, it will be devastating to both Utah’s spacing and overall scoring.

Furthermore, while Ingles is in a bit of a slump, Ricky Rubio simply continues to shoot the ball horribly. He went 3-of-13 from the field against Dallas and just 1-of-5 from the 3-point line. Many of his misses were either easy looks that should have gone down but didn’t,or simply poor execution or shot selection. Rubio did notch three steals and 12 assists, which was awesome to see, but his poor shooting continues to be a detriment.

Honestly, I’m OK with Rubio not putting up tons of points if he’s doing so well in dishing the ball and creating turnovers, but his continued inefficiency and shot selection won’t fly against a savvy and disciplined defensive team like Boston.

The Jazz have also struggled from the free throw line in recent contests, and while that hasn’t been the sole reason why they’ve lost four of their last five, it has certainly hurt. Utah shot just 69.2 percent against Dallas, and is currently shooting just 72.4 percent from the charity stripe on the year, good for a dismal 22nd in the NBA.

They’ll need to pick it up in that area to give themselves the extra scoring boost that they’ll most definitely need against a stingy Boston team on Friday.

Last of all, while for the most part the Jazz were in control and dominated Dallas, the fact that they let their foot off the gas so much in the fourth quarter is a little concerning. The Jazz have looked a little complacent all year, as if expecting the hype that’s followed them to result in wins coming easy and allowing them to be able to take plays off. Such couldn’t be further from the truth in the deep and daunting Western Conference, and it won’t be true on Friday against Boston.

The Jazz need to regain and maintain their focus if they are to have any chance of coming out on top against the Celtics as well as turn their season around from its slow start. Wednesday’s win was a nice victory and a much-needed boost in morale, but it was far from a signal that all is well and that the Jazz are ready to compete with the league’s elite.

Ideally, they’ll be able to prove just that on Friday night by fixing the minor things that went wrong against Dallas. The contest against former Jazzman Gordon Hayward’s Boston Celtics is bound to be one of the most electrifying games of the season, and the Utah Jazz need to be locked in, well-prepared and ready to put on a show.

The ‘home losing streak’ monkey is off the Jazz’s back. Now it’s time to get out there and start asserting themselves as a force in the NBA. Defeating the Boston Celtics would be a great first step in doing just that and reestablishing a new tone for the remainder of the season.