Utah Jazz down Dallas Mavericks in a triple overtime thriller; Nowitzki’s 40 go to waste – NBA Recap
The Utah Jazz defeated the Dallas Mavericks 123-121 in a triple overtime thriller to keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs alive. In one of the most thrilling matches of the season, Al Jefferson scored 28 points and tied his
career best with 26 rebounds for the night, inspiring his team to victory.
Dirk Nowitzki had a champion night, scoring 40 points while going 13 of 26 from the field. He also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
The game was tied up pretty evenly at half time, with Utah leading 43-42. However, the Jazz outscored the Mavericks 28-20 in the third quarter to lead 71-62 at the end of the 3rd period. The Mavericks came back in the
4th period, trailing 66-76 with 7:41 left in regulation to go on a 14-7 run and trail 80-83 with 2:28 left in regulation.
Jason Terry hit a three pointer and Vince Carter followed with back to back three point shots to give Dallas an 89-87 lead with 8 seconds left in regulation. The ball was inbounded to Gordon Hayward who missed the driving jump
shot, but Paul Millsap grabbed the rebound and scored the put back dunk to tie the game at 89 and force over time.
Dallas had the lead early in overtime but back to back three pointers by Hayward and Devin Harris gave Utah a 98-96 lead. Harris then hit a jump shot to give Utah the four point lead. Two free throws had Utah still up by three
with 13.4 seconds left in overtime but Nowitzki stepped up and hit the crunch time 3-pointer to tie the game at 105 and force 2nd overtime.
Utah and Dallas were tied at 111 with 29 seconds remaining in second bonus time, but both Millsap and Nowitzki turned the ball over on their respective possessions. The scores remained tied at 111 and the teams headed to the 3rd
overtime.
A three pointer by Harris gave Utah a 118-115 lead with 1:38 left in the third. Nowitzki missed a three pointer on the next possession and Al Jefferson capitalized by scoring a jump shot and giving Utah a 120-115 lead. Delonte
West hit a 3 pointer for Dallas to bring them within two, and Millsap missed one of his two free throws to give Utah a 3 point lead and Dallas a chance to tie the game.
However, both Terry and Nowitzki missed their 3 point attempts and Dallas sent Harris to the foul line where he hit both shots to seal the victory for Utah. West hit a 3 pointer to end the 3rd overtime period but to
no use as Utah won 123-121.
Al Jefferson was amazing for Utah with a 20/20 game. Gordon Hayward added 24 points and 5 assists while Devin Harris had 23 points and 7 assists. Paul Millsap chipped in with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
Nowitzki led the Mavericks scoring with 40 points and 9 rebounds. Jason Terry had 27 points, off 4 of 9 shooting from beyond the arc. Delonte West added 16 points and was a perfect 2 of 2 from the three point line and 5 of 8 from
the field. Vince Carter had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and scored 2 crucial three pointers at the end of regulation to force overtime.
Both teams shot well from the field, Utah going 43.2% and Dallas managing 42.9%. Utah was 12 of 28 from the three point line while Dallas went 14 of 34. The Jazz managed 12 more free throw attempts than Dallas, but did not capitalize
by shooting 78.4% from the foul line. Dallas were a near perfect 23 of 25 from the same area.
Utah Jazz beat Dallas 53-41 in rebounds, owing in large part to Al Jefferson. They also had 30 assists compared to 21 for Dallas as Jason Kidd failed to make any impact in the game.
With this win, Utah have changed the outlook of the Western Conference. Dallas has dropped to 7th and Denver has gone up to 6th spot. Utah are one loss behind 8th place Phoenix and Houston (at 9).
It will be a battle till the end for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference.
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