The Utah Jazz hit the road for the first time in the 2014-15 season as they went to the Lone Star State to take on the Mavericks 120-102. The Jazz got down early in the 1st quarter allowing the Mavericks to do whatever they wanted offensively. The Mavericks outscored the Jazz 36-20 in the first quarter and that was as close as the Jazz would get all night. Dirk Nowitzki had a terrific night making Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors, Trevor Booker and any other player who tried to defend him pay for it. Dirk ended the night with 21 points on 9-13 shooting from the field in only 24 minutes of play. Chandler Parson after going 2 of 10 in the 101-100 loss to San Antonio, poured in 21 as well on 8 of 16 shooting from the field with 7 rebounds in 29 minutes of play. The Jazz couldn’t do anything defensively in the first half allowing the Mavericks to score in the paint at will and made them pay on the perimeter. The Mavericks ended the night shooting 55% from the field as a team and the Jazz shot 43%.
Something that Jazz Head Coach Quin Snyder wanted to do was shoot more threes. Well, they did just that. After attempting 18 threes in Wednesday’s loss to Houston, the Jazz tied a franchise record for the most 3 point attempts with 35 and connected on 14 of them for 40%. All 5 starters were in double figures for the Jazz led by Derrick Favors with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Trey Burke and Gordon Hayward added 16 points apiece for the Jazz. I was pleased with the effort of Rudy Gobert who had 5 points and 8 rebounds in 13 minutes, really making his presence known on defense protecting the paint. Rodney Hood was a no-show as he didn’t score and went 0-7 from the field in 17 minutes. Jazz Coach Quin Snyder preached improvement on the defensive end and the Jazz did the exact opposite. They need a lot of work on defense if the y want to compete in this very difficult Western Conference.
The Jazz will have Friday off and will get ready to take on Jeff Hornacek and the Phoenix Suns at Energy Solutions Arena on Saturday night. Phoenix is currently sitting at 1-0 on the season after a 119-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. They host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night before heading to Salt Lake City on Saturday. Tipoff between the Jazz and the Suns will be at 7pm this Saturday.
