Mavericks blow 15-point lead, fall to Jazz at overtime buzzer

A Dallas Mavericks’ season that’s had more than its share of ups and downs, and twists and turns, took another downward turn Tuesday night.

Ahead by 15 points and playing in front of friendly fans at American Airlines Center, the Mavs found a way to squander that huge lead – and ultimately the game – as they got stunned by the streaking Utah Jazz, losing 121-119 in overtime.

Gordon Hayward drained the game winner, a step-back 17-footer over the outstretched arms of Zaza Pachulia in front of the Utah bench as the buzzer sounded. The win was the seventh in a row for the Jazz, extending their season high, and marked Utah’s first win in Dallas in six years.

This was the Mavs’ fourth loss in five games and will be chewed on until they return from the All-Star break Feb. 19 in Orlando.

Dallas takes a 29-26 record into the break, seven games worse than at this point last year (36-19).

Utah forced overtime – the Mavericks’ eighth this season – when Rodney Hood banged in a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in regulation. Coach Rick Carlisle decided not to intentionally foul Utah, which could have sent the Jazz to the free throw line and possibly eliminating a 3-point shot.

“It’s an easy question to ask after the fact,” Carlisle said. “We just decided not to. We decided to switch it and make them make as difficult a shot as possible. They did. Give them credit.”

Also give Hayward credit for driving the final stake through the Mavs’ hearts. That came after Chandler Parsons missed a 3-pointer and Hood snatched the rebound for Utah with 24.3 seconds remaining in overtime.

That set the stage for Hayward, who tallied 13 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime.

“I just went to the ball and there was a lot of holding and grabbing down there,” Hayward said of his game-winner. “I got a pick and attacked Zaza’s outside foot, stepped back and got a good look.

“(I’m) just happy, especially for us to hang around when I didn’t play well. This is the first win for [Utah center] Derrick [Favors] and me in Dallas – we talked about that this morning.”

Parsons led the Mavs with 24 points, Deron Williams had 23 points and five assists, Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 and grabbed nine rebounds, Raymond Felton finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Wesley Matthews added 16 points.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Mavs, who polished off the Grizzlies 114-110 in overtime Saturday in Memphis. That was one night after the Mavs were embarrassed at home by 26 points by the San Antonio Spurs.

Now this.

“Obviously a disappointing game,” said Wesley Matthews, who scored 16 points. “We had control of it up until the last seven seconds or whatever it was.

“But we cannot let that one slip and we did, so we’ve got to let this one eat at us, got to let it haunt us a little bit and we’ve got to come back with the whole mind frame of winning, and nothing but winning by any means.”

The Mavs have played more overtime games this season – and more games, period – than any team, and are now 6-2 in the extra session department. But again, they could have possibly avoided that scenario if they had intentionally fouled someone late in regulation and sent them to the free throw line.

“We’ve [intentionally fouled players] at times – it has risk,” Carlisle said. “We didn’t do it, and so the game went to overtime.

“I like our chances in overtime – we were 6-1 in overtime. You look back at it now, and you can certainly second-guess it.”

The Mavs led 29-21 after the first quarter in the oddest of ways. At that juncture the Mavs were 6-of-12 from 3-point range and 0-of-2 from inside the arc.

Dallas led 47-32 with 7:48 left in the half following a 3-point shot by rookie Justin Anderson. But the patient Jazz – who trailed 58-51 at intermission – kept chipping away until finally taking a 96-94 lead on a layup by Rudy Gobert with 5:38 to go.

The rest of the game went south for the Mavs, who now have over a week before they play again.

The Jazz have won seven in a row and pulled above .500 at 26-25 while winning in Dallas for the first time in 11 tries.

The Mavs are left wondering how a game they led by 15 points several times in the first half got away from them during the game’s most precious moments. For the Mavs’ sake, hopefully the break will provide some answers.

“We need this break, we need to get away,” Carlisle said. “I told the guys to enjoy the break, get away from this game and not think about it.

“We’ve got to come back refreshed and ready to jump back on another run.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Mavericks blow 15-point lead, fall to Jazz at overtime buzzer."