The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Utah Jazz by a score of 127-90. Coming off one of their most complete efforts of the season Saturday night in Golden State, Dallas played a sloppy, disinterested game from the onset.
Luka Doncic had one of his worst games of the season, Kyrie Irving looked rusty in his return from injury, threes didn’t fall, and the defense was non-existent.
Here are three numbers to know from this disaster.
66: Points in the paint for Utah
It was a layup line for the Jazz all night, who easily broke down the pitiful Dallas defense. Luka Doncic was particularly awful on that end of the floor, but no one could stay in front of their man. Dallas lost Dante Exum to injury after the first half hurt and the rest of the Maverick players couldn’t pick up the slack.
I don’t know what was going on during New Year’s Eve in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the Mavericks clearly weren’t ready to defend tonight.
27.5: Three-point percentage for Dallas
Only Jaden Hardy (5-of-9) and Kyrie Irving (2-of-3) were able to get anything going from beyond the line. Doncic shot 13 threes and only made three of them. Tim Hardaway Jr (who’s been in a slump for a month) and Grant Williams (what do you do here?) went a combined 0-for-10 off the bench. Utah didn’t shoot much better from behind the line, but their advantage inside the arc was obviously massive. Dallas is going to lose most games when they shoot threes like this.
0: Points for Josh Green
Green followed up his most impressive game of the season with a scoreless stinker tonight. His career continues to be the ultimate exercise in “one step forward, two steps back.” Every single time he has a chance to build on positive momentum, he falters. The Mavericks need more from him on both ends of the floor. He was hardly the biggest problem they had tonight, but it was just frustrating to see this kind of game given how good he was in Golden State.