Mavericks at Utah
The Utah Jazz are coming off a dramatic victory and are getting strong production out of building blocks Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. The Jazz will try to take advantage of the momentum when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The Mavericks are enduring the second night of a back-to-back after getting run off the floor in the second half of a 108-87 loss at the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
Hayward buried a step-back jumper at the buzzer to give Utah a 102-100 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and was mobbed by his teammates after a 21-point, seven-assist performance in the win. “I kind of wanted to see what it looked like because I've never really done that before," Hayward told reporters of the bedlam following his game-winner. "I've always been super under control with my emotions ... I think it was one of those moments where I couldn't help it." Hayward had 16 points and six assists at Dallas last week but the Jazz could not get the stops they needed in a 120-102 loss.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (3-2): Dallas has yet to win a third quarter this season and let second-quarter leads of 17 points and 31 points against New Orleans and Boston, respectively, slip away before pulling out late wins over the last week. The Mavericks could not build up enough of an advantage to withstand the third-quarter drought at Portland, taking a 50-46 advantage into the half before being outscored 35-18 in the third. The Mavericks were leading the NBA in scoring (111.8 points) and field-goal percentage (52.4) before being held to 36.7 percent shooting on Thursday.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (2-3): Hayward has gone over 20 points in each of the last three games while Favors has yet to hit under 50 percent from the field in a game this season. Favors had 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds in the win over the Cavaliers and Utah did not panic after letting a late six-point lead slip away. "I think this team needs to build confidence," first-year head coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "They need to feel that and they need to feel my confidence in them. So (the win over Cleveland) goes a long way, I think, in that process."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz waived G/F Jordan Hamilton on Thursday after he was inactive for each of the first five games.
2. Dallas has taken six straight in the series by an average of 12.3 points.
3. Utah F Trevor Booker is averaging 11.6 points on 59.5 percent shooting off the bench.