Coming off a tight win Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks took on the Utah Jazz looking for continued success, but lost a 116-114 contest in Salt Lake City similar to their last matchup with the Jazz when
they allowed a big run to let one get away.
Let’s get to the grades!
Cooper Flagg: A
26 PTS / 10 REB / 8 AST / 3 STL / 1 BLK – 38 MIN
Flagg was excellent all night and arguably should have gotten more looks given how well he was playing. Regardless, his 10-for-18 shooting, including 3-for-6 from downtown made him the Mavs’ leading scorer. His near triple-double keeps his grade high despite the turnover total and four fouls.
Max Christie: B+
16 PTS / 4 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN
Coming off a rough shooting night in Tuesday’s game, Christie put that behind him and got right back to doing what he had been doing in recent weeks. He hit a huge three just as the game officially became “clutch” which put the Mavs up by seven at the time. Although Dallas didn’t close it out, Christie shot well (5-for-9; 3-for-6 from deep) and had a solid all-around game.
Naji Marshall: B
17 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 37 MIN
There are not enough reverse-superlatives to articulate how bad a turnover Marshall committed on an inbounds pass with under a minute remaining. It had no chance in any plane of reality whatsoever, and served as the cherry on top of Dallas blowing a winnable game as Utah went on a run to close it. To his credit, he otherwise had a solid game on 7-for-11 shooting and only one turnover, but it just felt a bit empty overall.
Anthony Davis: B
21 PTS / 11 REB / 4 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK – 35 MIN
This is the second game in a row that Davis’ grade does not appear commensurate with his box score, but watching the game told a different story than the number from my perspective. He hit 50% of his 20 shot attempts, but Davis got roasted on multiple occasions on the defensive end and too often clogged up the paint offensively, preventing his teammates from executing and getting to their spots. I’d respectfully comment he should not have been the leading shot taker on the team either. Davis left after a somewhat bizarre hand injury late in the fourth quarter, that as of this writing, has not been diagnosed and disclosed publicly other than coach Jason Kidd acknowledging Davis suffered a hand injury during his postgame media availability.
Daniel Gafford: D
0 PTS / 7 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 25 MIN
Gafford grabbed a handful of boards, but otherwise this was a no-show.
Ryan Nembhard: C+
7 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 22 MIN
There wasn’t much doing in this one. Nembhard couldn’t find his stroke, especially from downtown (1-for-4) and turned it over three times. It won’t show in the box score, but Nembhard gets bonus points for his relentless hassling of Jazz inbounders and full court pressure which helped the Mavs close the half on a nice run. That effort helped him to the best plus/minus on the team (by far) of plus-13.
Brandon Williams: N/A
2 PTS / 3 REB / 1 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 9 MIN
Williams unfortunately exited the game due to sickness and did not return, so we’ll refrain from grading his partial performance.
Klay Thompson: A
23 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN
Thompson found his shot since last time out, and aside from two bizarre turnovers in the early going, he scored nearly a point per minute played early on to keep Dallas close while Utah put on a dunk contest in the first quarter. From there, it only continued. He finished shooting 7-for-13, with six of those makes coming from downtown. His assist total was also his season high. It’s a shame one of his better performances of the season ended in a loss.
Final thoughts
Dallas looked like the Washington General in the first quarter. The nature of their turnovers was almost comical and would make Benny Hill proud. They were literally falling down, double-dribbling and making horrific passes. Amazingly and despite the start, they had the game won but allowed Utah to make a big run to close things out. This was a bad loss exacerbated by the injury to Anthony Davis. Whether you want him here or want him traded, a long-term hand injury could spoil your day either way.
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