The Dallas Mavericks picked up their second win of the preseason Monday night with a 114-101 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Neither team shot all that well, with Dallas shooting 39.4% from the field and Utah shooting 40.2% from the field, but the Mavericks separated themselves with a strong performance on the interior. Dallas outrebounded Utah 59 to 48 and blocked 10 shots on the night. The Mavericks’ 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter was trimmed to eight points with 7:52 left, but Dallas held on for the win.
Anthony Davis led the way for the Mavs, needing only 25 minutes to rack up 25 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. He was efficient from the field as well, shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and making two of his five 3-pointers.
Mavericks
After an impressive first two preseason outings, Cooper Flagg had his first rough night of the season. Flagg made just 3 of 13 shots and finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, an assist, two steals and two blocks in 21 minutes. With D’Angelo Russell out, Flagg got his first test run at point guard as Jason Kidd went with the massive starting lineup of Flagg, Davis, P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and Dereck Lively II. Dallas will have to get creative at the point guard position behind Russell with Kyrie Irving still working his way back from ACL surgery, and Flagg could be an option to help fill that void.
Naji Marshall also stood out, providing 17 points off the bench in 21 minutes and had the best plus-minus on the team at plus-15. Ryan Nembhard, an undrafted rookie from Gonzaga, also continued to make his case for a role on the team with a team-leading 12 assists. The Mavs were plus-14 in Nembhard’s 26 minutes.
The Mavericks finish up their preseason slate Wednesday night in Las Vegas against the Lakers at 9:30 p.m.
Mavericks experiment with Cooper Flagg at point guard in preseason game vs. JazzMavs’ Jason Kidd, Anthony Davis to be featured in NBATV’s all-access training camp series
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