The Utah Jazz learned a hard lesson this week — never underestimate anyone in the NBA.
The Jazz lost on Monday to the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks by the final of 124-111. The Mavs were without Luka Doncic, who remains sidelined with a heel injury, as well as new trade acquisition Kyrie Irving, who was not with the team yet either. But Dallas got huge contributions from rookie Jaden Hardy and third-year Josh Green, who put up 29 points each to lead the Mavs to the big win on the road in Utah.
After the game, Hardy said that the Mavs felt disrespected by how the Jazz handled themselves before the game, noting that Utah came out late for their pregame warmups.
“We felt like once they came out with 12 minutes on the clock to warm up, we felt like they were not taking us seriously,” said Hardy, per Mavs writer Grant Afseth. “Once we seen that, everybody locked in … [They were] nonchalant coming out.”
The Jazz had virtually their entire roster available for Monday’s game, including all their top scorers like Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, and Collin Sexton. But sometimes, it is more difficult to play against a team full of players that you have neither game-planned for nor scouted extensively, especially if you are not taking them seriously in the first place.
The Mavs have done an excellent job of holding serve in Doncic’s absence, winning two of their last three since he went down and maintaining their spot as fifth in the Western Conference. As for the Jazz, the loss dropped them to below .500 on the season and might just accelerate some of the reported plans they have at the trade deadline.
