The Dallas Mavericks don’t get any time to think about what could have been in Sunday’s overtime loss against the Lakers, as they travel to face one of the best home teams in the NBA on Monday night in Utah, with the Jazz 6-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Utah has won 15 games in a row at home, with its last loss coming against Boston on Dec. 29. It's Utah’s longest home winning streak since a 19-game stretch in 1995-96 matched a franchise record. The Jazz are tied with the Mavs for the league’s best home record at 25-3.
Since Kyle Korver arrived from Philly in a trade, Utah is 22-6 but has stumbled recently, losing three of its last five before defeating the Grizzlies on Saturday night. In fact, Utah is 4-3 since the break’" including bad losses to Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers, but quality victories over Golden State and Detroit, and that one over Memphis on Saturday in which they didn't shake the struggling Grizzlies until the fourth quarter.
Continuing at such a pace, stringing together alternating victories and losses, simply is not healthy, even if the Jazz do still sit atop the Northwest Division standings, point guard Deron Williams suggested.
"We know we just can't afford to slip up right now," he said. "I think we've already done that a little bit. But the (playoff) race is so close right now that we've got to keep fighting. We can't afford to lose to any more sub.-500 teams."
Nine 35-plus win teams are packed close in the NBA Western Conference standings.
"It doesn't get much tougher than this," Mavericks assistant Paul Westphal said. "Going on the road with the Lakers and Utah. And they're both playing extremely well."Since the Mavs made the trade for Jason Kidd at the All-Star break, they have yet to defeat a team with a winning record. Dallas has lost to New Orleans, San Antonio and the Lakers, although all three were on the road. The Mavericks have victories over the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bulls and Kings.
Dirk Nowitzki has shined since Kidd’s arrival, however, averaging 29.7 points while shooting 56.2 percent from the field. For the season, Nowitzki is averaging 23.5 points and has a 47.9 shooting percentage.
There were two bright spots in Sunday’s loss in L.A.: Erick Dampier dominated for long stretches in the paint, finishing with 17 rebounds and 16 points before fouling out, and Jason Terry scored 18 points after being 3-of-15 in two games before Sunday.
Utah and Dallas have split the first two meetings this season, each winning at home. The Jazz won 99-90 in Salt Lake City on Dec. 26, their sixth win in the last nine games between the teams there.
The Mavericks, who are 14-18 on the road this season, have lost six of their last eight away from Dallas, including Sunday's defeat to the Lakers. And in their past five trips to Utah, the Mavs have scored more than 90 points just once.
ATS | Dallas | Utah |
| Record: | 39-21-0 (.650) | 38-22-0 (.633) |
| As Favorite: | 36-14-0 (.720) | 32-13-0 (.711) |
| As Underdog: | 3-7-0 (.300) | 6-9-0 (.400) |
| At Home: | 25-3-0 (.893) | 25-3-0 (.893) |
| On Road: | 14-18-0 (.438) | 13-19-0 (.406) |
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