SALT LAKE CITY — The Mavericks didn’t turn the ball over for nearly the first six minutes of Thursday’s rematch against the Utah Jazz.
All of a sudden, an avalanche of turnovers came crashing down on the road team that needed to clean up a problem that’s plagued them throughout the season.
But somehow, it didn’t stop them from being in yet another close game. The Mavericks’ turnover woes persisted in their 29th clutch game of the season until the waning seconds, leading to a 116-114 loss to the Jazz.
Naji Marshall committed a turnover with 56.9 seconds left by passing an inbound pass toward the direction of Cooper Flagg, but the pass was picked off by Brice Sensabaugh, leading to a layup that gave the Jazz a comfortable lead to cruise to a victory.
Mavericks
The Mavericks committed 21 turnovers, including seven in the fourth that made escaping Delta Center with a win nearly impossible, especially without Anthony Davis during the final two minutes. The Mavericks big man suffered a left hand injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game. He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
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Dallas entered the game averaging 15.6 turnovers per game, which is tied for the sixth-most in the NBA.
After going almost half of the first quarter without a turnover, Brandon Williams tried to initiate a fast break and threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George, who was at the center of the Mavericks’ continued turnover problem. Shortly after that play, Max Christie attempted to drive to the basket, but lost the ball to George, leading to a numbers disadvantage and another score for the Jazz.
The self-inflicted mistakes compounded from there, and George played a significant part in turning Dallas over. The Lewisville native came away with three steals, to complement his offensive effort of 19 points and seven assists.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd could only watch with 3:38 left in the second quarter as his team committed their 10th turnover of the second quarter. He walked onto the court with his head down and signaled a timeout to mitigate the problem.
So what’s the fix for their turnover woes?
“Just hold onto it maybe a second longer,” Kidd said. “To start that fourth [quarter], we had two careless turnovers so we have to do better. That’s the bottom line. … These are all things as young players we have to learn.”
Dallas trailed by 14 at that point, but rallied to cut Utah’s deficit because they cut down on their turnovers, committing just one more on the final play of the first half as Cody Williams poked the ball out from a driving Anthony Davis.
The Mavericks only turned the ball over three times in the third quarter despite being short a point guard as Williams missed the rest of the game with an illness. He was one of four players three turnovers, joining Flagg, Ryan Nembhard and Klay Thompson.
Thompson had a vintage shooting performance off the bench with 23 points, but made his fair share of mistakes, often trying to get in position to launch a 3-pointer. In the first half, Thompson faked his defender into the air and sidestepped to the left. Just as he attempted to shoot, the ball slipped out of his hands and wound up in the Mavericks’ bench.
Flagg played another phenomenal game in Utah despite the loss. He nearly recorded his first triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. He scored a career-high 42 points the last time the Mavericks were at Delta Center, but just as this time, the final result was a loss.
The Mavericks will conclude their first road trip of the new year Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls’ home game against Miami was postponed Thursday because moisture on the floor rendered the court at United Center unplayable.
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