3 takeaways from the Mavericks’ shocking loss to the Utah Jazz

On By Littum

The Dallas Mavericks dropped an embarrassing game to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, 115-113, making it their fourth straight loss, all in the clutch. They faced a deficit of as much as 16 points but still took the lead late before falling apart again in the final minute to lose.

It was a frustrating game that was all too familiar to Mavs fans. The same issues that plagued the team all season came back to bite them in this game. They need to figure out some issues quickly because the Western Conference is a bloodbath.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday night’s disappointment.

READ MORE: Mavericks drop embarrassing game to Utah Jazz, 115-113

It’s getting a little repetitive to say what’s costing the Mavericks these games because it’s the exact same things: lack of energy, bad fouls, getting killed by offensive rebounds, struggling in the clutch, and the three-point shooting is disappointing, especially from Luka. Doncic. It’s one thing to lose to good teams in the clutch, but this is the Utah Jazz, who hadn’t won a home game all year. Dallas allowed the Jazz to grab 18 offensive rebounds, while the Mavs shot just 30.9% from three and turned it over 17 times. Dallas is better than this.

All Dallas had to do to win this game was keep Dereck Lively II out of foul trouble. In his 17 minutes, he had a plus/minus of +11, while Daniel Gafford was -19. Lively picked up his fourth foul just 1:15 into the second half, but Jason Kidd left him out there for a few minutes, and he picked up his fifth a few minutes later. When he was reinstated in the fourth quarter, he made an immediate impact and Dallas began to claw their way back into the game. If he could have stayed out of foul trouble, Dallas would have won this game, even with his massive mistake in the final seconds.

Jason Kidd experimented with lineups early in this game, including subbing in Dwight Powell at power forward. While he had three assists and two blocks, his refusal to shoot stalled the offense at times. If he has to play, he has to either shoot or he has to play center.

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