DALLAS -- Facing the possibility of finishing a supposedly pivotal six-game home stand with a rotten 2-4 record or a less-crummy 3-3, the Mavericks dug deep Tuesday night and eked out the latter.
But, hey, this 120-116 victory over shorthanded Utah certainly was better than the alternative.
Kyrie Irving’s 33 points, Luka Doncic’s 29 and Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 24 off the bench allowed Dallas (34-32) to avert what would have been a disastrous end to an already disappointing homestand – especially with a quick-turn Wednesday game in New Orleans.
The sellout American Airlines Center crowd’s relatively subdued atmosphere was understandable since the home team didn’t give fans much about which to cheer.
With the Mavericks trailing 108-107, Irving took matters into his hands in the final three minutes. He hit a pair of free throws with 2:57 left, followed 24 seconds later by a 3-pointer.
Justin Holiday’s corner 3-pointer off a Doncic assist pushed Dallas’ lead to 115-108.
Leading by as much a 51-37 four minutes into the second quarter, the Mavericks couldn’t break free of a Utah team playing without Jordan Clarkson (sprained finger), Walker Kessler (illness) and Collin Sexton (hamstring).
Dallas lost starter Reggie Bullock to a right quad contusion after eight minutes of court time Tuesday, but this was a game the Mavericks should have put away after building the double-digit lead.
Utah (31-35) has lost four straight games and hasn’t beaten a .500 or better team since Jan. 28, when it defeated the Mavericks in Salt Lake City with Doncic resting.
Coming out of the All-Star break the Mavericks were 31-29 and sixth in the West, but just 1.5 games behind the fourth-place Clippers.
Kidd described the six-game homestand as a rare luxury and an opportunity to kick-start what he called the 22-game sprint to finish the regular season.
Now? Thanks to losses Tuesday by sixth-place Minnesota and fifth-place Golden State, the Mavericks leapfrogged from seventh into a virtual tie for fifth with the Warriors. Had Dallas pulled out two of the three down-to-the-wire losses to the Lakers (by three), Indiana (by two) or Phoenix (by four), it would be bearing down on the fourth-place Suns.
And now 10 of Dallas’ remaining 16 games are on the road, where it is 12-19.
“This team, we feel very comfortable when it comes to scoring,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s just, ‘Can we get a little bit better on the defensive end, and especially in the last two minutes?’ Scoring is not the issue.”
