On a night when the NCAA men's basketball tournament got underway in earnest with some big upsets, the Utah Jazz looked to move from eighth to sixth place with the Dallas Mavericks tied with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. I continued my road trip with Su. in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Jazz faced Cinderella early, taking an 8-1 lead just under three minutes into the game, before Dallas responded with a 9-2 run to tie the game midway through the first quarter. In the end, the Jazz led 27-26 after 12 minutes.
The Jazz were held scoreless for nearly four minutes in the second quarter, but Lauri Markkanen made two free throws at 8:22 to cut Dallas' lead to six points (35-29). . Walker Kessler then made a few dunks and the Jazz narrowed the gap to 42-39. Luka Doncic then took over and scored eight points in an 11-3 rout of Dallas, giving Dallas a 53-42 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was tough for the Jazz, with Dallas leading 14-6 at the seven-minute mark, the game becoming shaky and the Jazz getting frustrated with the referees. Keyonte George and Omer Yurtseven did their best to keep the Jazz in the game, combining for 13 points as the Jazz trailed 83-73 entering the fourth.
Dallas took the lead in the fourth with a 17-7 run, opening a 20-point lead with just over five minutes left in the game. The Jazz returned to their starting five and went on a 15-6 run to close the gap and Dallas shut out the game for a 113-97 victory.
There wasn't much to like about this game, but the 18 turnovers were reminiscent of earlier in the season when the Jazz struggled to take care of the ball. Dallas had 27 fast break points on the night.
The Jazz's 3-point shooting (4-of-30, 13.3%) was poor. And they seemed to become less aggressive with each mistake.
Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 21 points, but he wasn't doing very well. He struggled all night on the road, perhaps still feeling the effects of his recent injury. As many teams have done, Dallas played Lauri physically and took him out of the game for stretches. He will need to live up to this and overcome it if he is to reach the next level of stardom in the NBA.
Collin Sexton had 20 points, four rebounds, and five assists in 27 minutes, and Walker Kessler had 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Jazz will remain in the Lone Star State and play the Houston Rockets on Saturday before returning home for a rematch with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
Next. Will the Jazz trade their first-round pick this year? The Jazz could trade their first-round pick this year.dark
