The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz 113-97 on Thursday night to secure the sixth and final guaranteed postseason spot in the Western Conference. Luka Doncic scored 34 points, pulled down nine rebounds, and disheveled eight assists.
With their third straight win and seventh in eight games, Dallas increased its record to 41-29. Sacramento and Phoenix, who played Atlanta at home on Thursday night in a late game, were now one and a half games behind the Mavericks. Sacramento had a loss earlier on Thursday in Washington.
Doncic played four minutes in the fourth quarter without grabbing a rebound or dishing up an assist. He made 11 of 23 free throws, including 4 of 10 on threes.
With his best performance since being acquired in early February, Daniel Gafford added 24 points. After crumpling to the court and being assisted to the locker room, Gafford missed the second part of the second quarter but came back to open the second half.
Eleven of Kyrie Irving’s sixteen points came in the second half.
The Jazz have dropped 15 of 18 games and four straight after being destroyed in a road back-to-back loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday night. With twelve games remaining, they are eight games out of play-in qualification.
Lauri Markkanen, who had missed the previous seven games due to a quadriceps injury, led Utah with 21 points. Off the bench, Collin Sexton added twenty more.
Dallas trailed by seven points after two and a half minutes, but now led by 19 points.
In fast-break points, the Mavericks outscored the Jazz 23–7, and Utah made 4 of 30 free throws from outside the arc.
After what Dallas head coach Jason Kidd referred to as a “human game,” in which the sixth-year star recorded his 18th triple-double of the year while only making six of his 27 field goal attempts, Doncic finished with 18 points, his lowest total since mid-November.
The Jazz’s third-best scorer, Jordan Clarkson, was not in the lineup. He missed his fifth consecutive game due to a groin issue. Josh Green, who missed his third straight game due to an injured right ankle, was not available for the Mavericks.