'It's Embarrassing': Mavs Drop to .500 At Home After 123-119 Loss to Jazz
DALLAS - With the Utah Jazz coming off of a last-second win over the Houston Rockets just 24 hours earlier, the Dallas Mavericks were not able to take advantage of tired Utah legs, falling to 14-14 at home after a 123-119 loss.
Thanks to a balanced team scoring attack, the Jazz were able to jump on the Mavericks early and often, leading by as many as 22 points in the first half.
“It was a very, very poor performance in the first half," Rick Carlisle said. "Defense was terrible. ... The biggest symptom of our problems at home is our starts to games. Tonight, we just didn’t get there. ... Our defensive disposition, effort and everything in the first half was very bad. To let a team on the second night of a back-to-back come in and shoot 61 percent in a half and score 71 points – we’re just not getting the job done. It’s pretty obvious.”
Dallas was able to make a valiant comeback effort coming out of the locker room, outscoring the Jazz 30-12 and getting within just three points at one point in the third quarter, but were unable to sustain the effort, allowing Utah to regain control, and close out the game with a win.
Rudy Gobert made his presence known early, and in multiple ways, scoring 17 points to go along with 16 rebounds and one blocked shot in 24 minutes of action. Gobert also bullied Kristaps Porzingis throughout most of the game on the block and affecting the majority of looks inside the paint for Dallas.
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz offensive attack with 25 points, while Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic each added 23 points
Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. were the leading scorers for the Mavs, with Hardaway scoring 33 points, and Porzingis contributing 28 points on 7-of-17 from the field.
“Whatever we have to do to prepare as if we were on the road, we need to bring that to our home court," Tim Hardaway Jr. said. "It is embarrassing, and we all know that. Everybody needs to get their minds and bodies right to come out here and compete for 48 [minutes]. We aren’t doing that at home, but when we are on the road, we get the job done the majority of the time. We have to give the fans – our home crowd – something to cheer about.”
Following the loss to the Jazz, the Mavs (32-22) will finish out their two-game homestand on Wednesday night against D'Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley, and the Sacramento Kings (21-32). ... and possible with Luka Doncic returning from his ankle injury. Dallas will also have Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the team, as he's signed with the Mavs following his buyout in Charlotte. Dallas has waived Ryan Broekhoff to make room.
The Kings got the better of the Mavs in their previous matchup at the American Airlines Center, winning 110-106 on December 8 behind 30 points from Nemanja Bjelica.
"We’re going to have to do a lot better,'' Carlisle said. "It’s a 48-minute game; we’re going to have to play better from start to finish.
