SALT LAKE CITY _ J.J. Barea was back in the Mavericks' starting lineup on Saturday against Utah, the fourth time in their last six games he's started.
Part of that logic by Rick Carlisle is to pair Barea with Dirk Nowitzki, who always seem to bring out the best in each other.
It happened again Saturday in Utah, when Barea had a double-double before the third quarter was over and finished with 17 points and 12 assists in the Mavericks' 97-90 loss to the Jazz. Nowitzki also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the Mavericks' fourth loss in a row and 11th in their last 13 games.
There is a byproduct of having Barea start, however, that is more important than his work with Nowitzki. By starting, it allows rookie Dennis Smith Jr. to play shooting guard.
That's not something the Mavericks envision long term. But it is something they want Smith to learn about so he can better understand what shooting guards need when he's running the point.
"I think it's important for Dennis Smith to learn what it's like to play off the ball," Carlisle said. "He's always had the ball. If he's going to be playing the point guard position well into the future for us, it's important for him to understand what the two-guard goes through. And he's done a good job with it."
Smith hasn't exactly come out of the All-Star break lighting things up. He was 5 of 16 at LA on Friday (1 of 6 from 3-point range). He followed that up with just 2-of-11 shooting against the Jazz (0 of 4 from 3-point). He also had five turnovers.
The Mavericks were tied at 87 before Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder scored for the Jazz. Then, with 2:32 to go, Rudy Gobert got loose for a dunk and a 93-87 Utah lead.
The Mavericks cut it to three on a Wesley Matthews 3-pointer, but Smith had two costly turnovers, one on a sloppy pass, the other on the dribble on a break.
Utah could not convert, however, and the Mavericks had the ball back with under 50 seconds to go. But Harrison Barnes threw a pass out of bounds when trying to find Nowitzki on the wing.
In all, the Mavericks had four turnovers in the final two minutes.
