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2023-24 NBA Regular Season
Dallas Mavericks v Utah Jazz
American Airlines Center
Dallas, Texas
Friday 22 March 2024
Tip-off at 02:30 CAT
Dallas Mavericks will continue their push to qualify automatically for the playoffs when they welcome Utah Jazz to the American Airlines Center on the morning of Friday, March 22.
The Mavs have put themselves on the brink of the top six in the
NBA Western Conference after winning six of their last seven games to sit just behind Sacramento Kings in seventh place with a marginal difference in percentage points.
Jason Kidd's team made it back-to-back wins as they beat San Antonio Spurs 113-107 on March 20 to keep the pressure on the Kings, who defeated Memphis Grizzlies 121-111 in overtime the previous day.
Luka Doncic finished with 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds against the Spurs - his eighth triple-double in 10 games - although the Mavs point guard shot just 6 of 27 from the field.
Kidd admitted their defence made up for a poor showing on the offensive end as they restricted Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama to 19 and 12 points respectively.
"Yes, it does count as a 'W'," Kidd said. "Not all wins are pretty. For us not to shoot the ball well, we relied on our defense to help us get this win.
"San Antonio is a team that puts a lot of pressure on your defense. I thought the guys did a really good job on Victor and Vassell."
The Jazz have little hope of catching Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in the race for the play-in tournament after losing seven of their nine games this month.
Will Hardy's team lost back-to-back home games against the Minnesota Timberwolves to leave them 5.5 games behind the Warriors (10th).
Utah committed 17 turnovers in a 114-104 defeat to the Timberwolves on March 19 and it cost them 27 points, having led 59-53 at half-time.
Lauri Markkanen racked up 22 points and 12 rebounds on his return after missing six games due to a bruised right quadriceps and he acknowledged to rushing his game to make some plays.
"I was rushing some things and obviously turnovers cost us the game tonight," Markkanen said. "I'll take the blame for that. But overall it was fun to be back out there with my team-mates."
Dallas Mavericks v Utah Jazz - Head-to-head, Regular Season
Games played: 189
Mavs wins: 81
Jazz wins: 108
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