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Mavericks: Dirk, Monta and Tyson a no-go in Utah

By Brian Gosset

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Feb 11, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; The Dallas Mavericks dancers perform during the second half of the game between the Mavericks and the Utah Jazz at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Jazz 87-82. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Preview: Mavericks vs. Jazz

UTAH – Let the resting theme continue on the Mavericks final road trip of the season as Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler will not play as Dallas visits the Utah Jazz Monday night. Game time is set for 9 pm ET.

With Chandler Parsons out with injury, Rick Carlisle has rested multiple key players as the Mavs (49-31) look to go 3-0 on this Western Conference lottery-bound road trip. Parsons also won’t play vs the Jazz, but is expected to return in the finale against Portland on Wednesday.

Rajon Rondo sat out Friday in Denver as the Mavericks blew a 23-point lead and ended up winning a double-overtime 144-143 shootout. Nowitzki scored 25 points, the fifth time he’s done so in the calendar year. Richard Jefferson (24), Devin Harris (21) and Raymond Felton (13) added season highs as Felton, who started for Rondo, scored the game-winning basket and had the game-winning block.

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Dallas went on to LA, where the Mavericks beat the Lakers 120-106 Sunday night without Harris and Amar’e Stoudemire. Chandler led seven in double figures with 20 points and nine boards while Jefferson and Felton added 17 and 15 on a combine 11 of 17 shooting. Rondo was two rebounds shy of a triple double with 11 points, 11 dimes and eight boards. Dallas was 54-38 inside the paint.

Nowitzki added 16 points, his seventh-straight game of 16 or more points, his longest streak since going 17-straight last year (1/15-2/22). Rondo’s 11 assists marked the third-highest in a Mavs uniform and highest since dishing out 13 and 11 vs Orlando and OKC (3/16-3/18). He had 18 dimes in his previous three games.

It was the first season sweep of the Lakers in franchise history.

Nowitzki, Ellis and Chandler rode back to Dallas on Mark Cuban’s private jet after the conclusion of the Lakers game.

Despite another losing season and no Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Trey Burke, Trevor Booker scored 19 of his career-high 36 points in the first quarter of Utah’s 111-105 victory Saturday night over the Blazers. It stunned Portland, eliminating the Blazers from home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

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The Jazz (37-43) will head to their second-straight lottery after finishing 25-57 last season.

J.J. Barea scored 15 of his season-high 22 points in the third quarter and the Mavericks went into the All-Star break by holding on for an 87-82 victory against the Jazz in the previous meeting on Feb. 11.

Hayward, coming off consecutive 30-point games in a pair of wins, was limited to 12 points for Utah and had two of his six turnovers in the closing minutes with the Jazz trying to rally for their first three-game winning streak in a year. Burke led Utah with 16 points.

Nowitkzi, who was named as an All-Star replacement after the game, had 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.

The Mavericks also defeated the Jazz 120-102 and 105-82 in two other meetings this season and have won eight-straight meetings in the series. They have won three-straight in Utah since the Jazz won the last time in the series, a 100-94 victory on Jan. 7, 2013. Hayward scored a game-high 27 points.

In this eight-game span, the Mavs are outscoring the Jazz 104-92 and have held Utah to under 90 points in four games.

Dallas is 23-17 on the road while the Jazz are 20-20 at home. Felton, who is averaging 14.5 points in the past two games, has scored double figures in back-to-back games for the first time since three-straight last April.

Next: 5 Under the Radar Free Agents the Mavericks Should Consider

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