The Utah Jazz have downed the Dallas Mavericks to continue their run of impressive outings. The Jazz are 8-3 in their last 11 games, and are on the way up, now sporting a record of 15-19 and just two games behind the 10th-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are currently the last of four teams currently in the Play-In portion of the playoffs.
The Jazz are in the beginning stages of a daunting run against some of the NBA's best teams, and they needed a hot start over the Miami Heat and Mavericks to help ensure that this stretch of games didn't derail the team. And what a start they've gotten off to. Not only did they beat the Heat and Mavs in back-to-back games, they beat the Mavericks by 37 points, helping avenge their 50-point loss from earlier in the season.
And the Jazz were able to wallop the Mavs as easily as they did partly due to Jordan Clarkson's triple-double and Walker Kessler's powering play off the bench. Clarkson pulled down his first career triple-double on the night and in doing so, also had the first triple-double for the franchise since 2008 when Carlos Boozer did it last.
Clarkson's up-and-down season continues but on a high note today. He had 20 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds and shot 8-16 from the floor (but 1-6 from three).
Kessler, who had a double-double of his own, had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. It's clear that Kessler has returned to his rookie form after an early season injury and has more than likely taken the next step in his development.
This Jazz team is radically different than it was two months ago just with how they're playing. The team is seeing better passing, fewer turnovers, and an overall better defensive effort being put forth. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the team doesn't have the same chemistry issue with the current lineup as it is.