Dallas hold off second half surge to sneak past the Jazz 103-97
Mighty or not, all the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams seem to suffer the same fate when they come up against the red hot Dallas Mavericks.
On Saturday night, it was no different for the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz came into the match having won nine of their last 11 games and with November's best Western Conference best player, Deron Williams, in their ranks they had every chance of halting the Mavericks 11-match winning streak.
Deron Williams starred by scoring a match-high 34 points, but the Mavericks surge didn’t halt there, as they still had enough firepower to squeak past the Jazz 103-97 en-route to their 12 consecutive win.
The game lived up to the hype as the Dallas Mavericks had to dig deep and rally hard in the final few minutes, after throwing away a 25-point lead in the first half, to snatch a hard fought win.
The Mavericks star forward Deron Williams scored 34 points, 15 rebounds and four assists including a crucial three point play, down the stretch.
Williams said after the game, "They slowly chipped away and chipped away and finally tied the game there in the fourth, and we had to really dig deep, grind it out and get some stops.”
Jason Terry came off the bench to score 14 points, but more importantly for Dallas he lifted his game just at the right moment, producing 12 crucial points in the fourth quarter to help the Mavericks seal the win.
Dirk Nowitzki acknowledged Terry's endeavors by saying, "(Terry) got hot at the right moment which really helped, and made shots for us down the stretch. ... We definitely made it harder on ourselves than we should have."
The Jazz failed to get into the lead in the entire match, as it was all one way traffic at the start of the proceeding. Dallas Mavericks hit the ground running and launched a barrage of three-pointers to reel off a 29-4 run.
The Jazz who completely looked awestruck in the first eight minutes and appeared to have been completely blown away by the vociferous Dallas assault, finally managed to come to grips with the situation.
Deron Williams scored 12 points in the space of four minutes as the Jazz found their rhythm to pull off a 14-2 run and a Williams charity throw made it 19-31 with 11 seconds left until the buzzer. Jason Kidd then made a three point
play in the final second to guide the Mavericks into the lead at 34-19.
The Dallas offence set a new first quarter season-high with 34 points, as they shot 13-for-18, including 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. The starters were especially in an aggressive mood as they combined to go 13-for-14, and hit
all seven of their long-range attempts.
The Mavericks though started to lose their momentum in the second quarter as the Jazz started to up the ante slowly. Dallas's shooting looked out of sorts in the second period, as the Jazz started to press and reduced the deficit
to 12 points, with the teams heading into the change room at 54-42.
The third quarter was an evenly matched affair. In a topsy-turvy period, the Jazz got a head start as they made five unanswered points in one and a half minutes to pull within seven. The Mavericks however responded immediately,
as they sprinted to a 15-4 run midway to restore a healthy advantage at 69-51.
The Jazz though were not willing to give up the match that easily as they outscored the Mavericks in rest of the period. The match entered its final quarter at 70-81 and the Jazz were still in with a chance to win it.
Utah’s offence continued its aggressive play into the fourth quarter. They went on an 8-0 run to come within four inside the first three minutes, and the surge did not stop there.
The Jazz came within three points twice, before Williams finally evened the scores at 89 with a three point play, and gave the Mavericks a real scare.
With four minutes left Dirk Nowitzki slipped in two free throws, and Terry shot in a fade away jumper as the Mavericks restored their advantage after the stumble. Terry made a triple pointer to complement the run, but Ronnie Price
nailed two three-pointers from the other end to make it a single-point game.
Leading 96-95 with over two minutes left on the clock, the Mavericks finally managed to break away as Nowitzki drove for a layup and in the process drew the foul on Paul Millsap for a three-point play, to put the Mavericks up by
four. Al Jefferson then scored a layup to cut the lead, but Terry hit his second three-pointer of the quarter to put the game away.
DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler scored 17 and 16 points each to complement Nowitzki and Terry’s efforts, as the Mavericks shot at 50 percent from the field and 14-for-26 from downtown.
For the Jazz Paul Millsap had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Ronnie Price and C.J. Miles combined for 24 points, as the Jazz just ran out of steam in the final minutes after a spirited fight back.
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