Utah @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2018 ) Dallas 90, Utah 97

The Utah Jazz had their nine-game winning streak halted and seek to start a new one when they open a three-game road trip against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. Utah suffered a damaging defeat when it fell 99-94 to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday for just its third setback in the past 24 games.

The stunning home loss to one of the worst teams in the NBA dropped the Jazz into eighth place in the congested Western Conference playoff picture with just 11 games to play. "When you're not making shots, you've got to figure out other ways to score," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters after his team shot just 37.1 percent from the field. "We didn't make shots, and we weren't very good at the rim either. It's tough to overcome both of those things." Dallas is coming off a 115-105 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday and dropped three straight games and 18 of its last 24. Mavericks rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. (ankle) will miss his second straight game.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (40-31): Utah's offensive attack was never in sync against the Hawks and standout rookie guard Donovan Mitchell was one of the players experiencing an off-night as he was 9-of-28 shooting (1-of-10 from 3-point range) while scoring 24 points. "We weren't connected on offense," Mitchell told reporters afterward. "We missed too many easy shots and we turned the ball over too much. And when you do those things, it puts too much pressure on your defense." Point guard Ricky Rubio scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting after averaging 10 on 10-of-33 shooting over the previous three games.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (22-49): Dallas gave up 114 or more points in each of its last three games and couldn't contain Pelicans All-Star power forward Anthony Davis (37 points) in Tuesday's loss. But coach Rick Carlisle found several things to be pleasing, particularly the effort and the fact his squad committed just eight turnovers. "We had some breakdowns defensively, but they're a very good offensive team," Carlisle said after the loss. "The matchups were tough when they went small a couple of times and we had to adjust to that. The guys that played did some good things."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Jazz are 2-0 against the Mavericks this season while holding Dallas to an average of 89.5 points.

2. Dallas PF Dwight Powell is averaging 14.5 points on 12-of-16 shooting over the past two games.

3. Utah PF Derrick Favors (left knee soreness) will likely miss his second straight game.

PREDICTION: Jazz 103, Mavericks 96