Why Dallas Mavericks want to face Utah Jazz in first round of playoffs

Why Dallas Mavericks want to face Utah Jazz in playoffs: 1. Recent play

The Jazz held on to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 121-115 in overtime on Tuesday night, but they nearly gave the game away on multiple occasions. Utah has lost six of their last eight, and the run featured multiple epic fourth-quarter collapses. The Athletic’s Tony Jones tweeted this during the April 5 win over the Grizzlies.

The Jazz are a flawed team right now. There are rumblings about the relationship between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert as Utah has slipped out of the top four and could fall to sixth in the final days of the regular season.

Conversely, the Mavericks are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They have the fourth-best record in the league since the calendar flipped to 2022, and superstar Luka Doncic is white-hot. Dallas is 27-12 at home this season, and if they jump up 2-0 on the Jazz, Utah could have a collapses that sees them swept before blowing up their roster in the offseason.

The Dallas Mavericks are not trying to force a specific playoff matchup. Head coach Jason Kidd wants his team to play hard and win out. Drawing the Utah Jazz is preferable, but the Mavericks should be favored in the first round no matter the opponent. Expect a fun series and plenty of Luka Doncic magic that supporters will not want to miss.