SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—Reserve Jason Terry(notes) scored five of his 22 points in a
13-0 fourth-quarter run to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 94-77 victory Saturday
night over Utah and hand the slumping Jazz their fifth straight loss.
The win gave the Mavs their first series sweep of the Jazz since the
2004-2005 season.
Dirk Nowitzki(notes) added 19 points and ran his consecutive free throw mark to 72.
The Jazz took a 60-58 lead into the fourth quarter, and led 70-68 with 6:21
left on Raja Bell’s(notes) 20-foot jumper. But the Mavs went on a 13-0 run.
Jose Barea and Terry started it with back-to-back 3-pointers, Shawn Marion(notes)
then stole the ball and dunked at the other end for a 76-70 lead. Tyson Chandler(notes)
capped the run with a three-point play.
Al Jefferson(notes) led the Jazz with 21 points, but was ejected in the final
minute.
Utah scored just 30 points in the second half after leading 22-20 after the
first and 47-43 at halftime.
The Jazz started strong, forcing 12 Dallas turnovers in the first half.
Starters C.J. Miles(notes), Jefferson and Paul Millsap(notes) were a combined 15 of 22 (68.2
percent) in the first half. But they finished a combined 22 of 47, with Miles
continuing his 3-point shooting slump with a 1-for-5 effort Saturday.
Neither team shot well in the third quarter, with Dallas outscoring Utah
15-13. The Mavs shot just 25 percent and the Jazz just 26 percent.
Overall, the Jazz shot just 42.1 percent and committed 19 turnovers.
Nowitzki entered having made 63 straight free throws. He was 9 of 9 Saturday
to make it 72 straight. His personal record of 82 straight ranks third all-time
in NBA history behind Michael Williams (97 in 1993 with Minnesota) and Jose
Calderon(notes) (87 in 2008-2009 with Toronto).
Utah entered Saturday’s game four games behind eighth-placed Memphis with
nine games remaining. In mid-January, they were as many as 14 games over .500.
The Jazz have lost seven of their last nine and are 5-15 under Ty Corbin.
The Jazz were playing their second straight game without starters Devin
Harris(notes) and Andrei Kirilenko(notes), who represented 26.6 points and 7.5 rebounds out of
the lineup.
Notes: Gordon Hayward(notes), who led Butler to the national title game last
season, was able to watch most of Saturday’s regional final which the Bulldogs
won in overtime against Florida. “I’m real excited for those guys,” said
Hayward, who also won a $100 bet with Bell, his Jazz teammate. Hayward would
have been a junior at Butler had he stayed in school, but said he has no regrets
about leaving. He’s averaging 4.0 points in a reserve role for Utah, but was
coming off a 13-point, three-block, five-assist game against New Orleans. …
Since the All-Star break Jefferson is averaging 25.3 points—fourth-best in the
NBA. … After 74 games last year, the Jazz were 48-26.
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Mavericks complete season sweep of Jazz (AP)