Dallas Mavericks (19-13) @ Utah Jazz (17-16) When: Monday 5th January 9:00 PM (ET) Where: Delta Center Local TV: KJZZ, KTXA National TV: NBATV Key Stats Jazz home record: 13-3 Mavericks road record: 4-11 Standings: Jazz 9th Western Conference (.515), Mavericks 5th Western Conference (.594) Streaks: Jazz lost 2, Mavericks won 1 Probable Starters Mavericks / Jazz PG: Steve Nash / Carlos Arroyo SG: Michael Finley / Deshawn Stevenson SF: Josh Howard / Matt Hapring PF: Antoine Walker / Andrei Kirilenko C: Dirk Nowitzki / Greg Ostertag Key Bench Players Mavericks: Antawn Jamison, Danny Forston, Travis Best Jazz: Raul Lopez, Raja Bell, Jarron Collins Injuries Jazz: Michael Ruffin, Keon Clark, Curtis Borchardt (All out) Matt Harpring, Greg Ostertag (questionable) Mavericks: Tariq Abdul Wahad, Eduardo Najera, Jon Steffanson (All out) Keys to the game Jazz 1. Rebounding. Utah were embarrased by Houston on the boards and because it was so poor they only got 63 points. Utah must have a rebounding advantage to have a chance at winning. 2. Scoring. 63 points isn't enough to win a game against the high scoring Mavs. Utah must have a good FG% and get their FT's. Mavs. 1. Dirk. Dirk can draw Greg Ostertag out to the 3pt line, and by doing that will make it a lot easier for the guards to drive and Utah will lose their best reounder. 2. Defense. Utah may have Matt Harpring out, and Utah need him in this game badly. His absence will make Utah's scoring drop, so if Dallas can play good defense, they can hold Utah to under 80, which is very good for the Mavs. Key Matchup: PF- Antoine Walker vs. Andrei Kirilenko Prediction: If Utah were healthy, I'd predict them to win this, but they're not and have struggled with their injuries. Dallas by 13. 104 - 91.
Well Utah are out rebounding Dallas 45-27 and winning 91-70 (no typo), with 8:51 left in the 4th. When Utah lost the rebouding battle to Houston, they scored low, when they win the rebounding battle they score very high.
What is it with the Jazz winning games when basically no one, even me, believes they will win. This was an awesome game by the Jazz, and what's even better is that they could score 108 points without Harpring. They played very good defense aswell.
