A pair of teams with starkly different goals in the 2024-25 NBA season will face off on Thursday night in Salt Lake City. The Dallas Mavericks will travel to the Beehive State to face the Utah Jazz.
Fresh off an NBA Finals appearance and bolstered by the addition of legendary sharpshooter Klay Thompson, the Mavericks entered this season with one goal and one goal alone: A return to the NBA Finals and a victory.
For Utah, it’s an entirely different picture. Though the Jazz have routinely been competitive early in the season in their post-Rudy Gobert/Donovan Mitchell era and retained All-Star Lauri Markkanen over the summer amid trade rumors, this was seemingly the year to truly bottom out.
Not only was almost the entire Western Conference primed to push for a playoff spot, aside from the Portland Trail Blazers, but an absolutely loaded draft class awaits at season’s end. So far, Utah’s made good on that intention.
With the deeply talented Mavericks headed into town, will that early season trend continue for the home Jazz? Find out with our Dallas Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz predictions, including our NBA expert picks, with tip set for November 14 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Matchup Mavericks vs Jazz Overview
Teams: Dallas Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Delta Center
Win Probabilities
The predicted tip for the winner in the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz is the Dallas Mavericks.
Expert Prediction: Who Wins?
Rewind to the pre-trade deadline Dallas Mavericks, and the notion of an NBA Finals trip seemed optimistic. Sure, Luka Doncic is a transcendent talent and was clearly capable of dragging even an underwhelming team there, but this was a deeply flawed Dallas squad. There was an overreliance on Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, then-injured Maxi Kleber, and Grant Williams. Those Mavericks looked more likely to chase Doncic away through mediocrity than launch themselves into the true title contender echelon.
What a difference a few months can make. However, after reworking their roster with aplomb at the deadline, shifting out Hardaway Jr., Green, and Williams while bringing in Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington, Dallas upset the Oklahoma City Thunder and then the Minnesota Timberwolves to reach the NBA Finals.
While the Mavs would end up short, losing to the Celtics in quick fashion, it was obvious they’d hit on a roster construction that worked — and belonged in the tier of true title contenders. Early in the 2024-25 NBA season, they’ve only emphasized that standing and appear primed for a top-4 spot in the Western Conference.
In the Doncic and Kyrie Irving duo, flanked by shooting with Klay Thompson and reliable rim runners in Gafford and Derrick Lively, the Mavs have a walking top-10 offense. Frankly, Luka could sleepwalk through 82 games, and Dallas would have an above-average attack. Even with inefficient shooting out of the gate (Dallas is 20th in true shooting), it’s on the fringes of the top half of the league in adjusted offensive rating, averaging just under 114 points per 100 possessions.
However, it’s the ramped-up defensive intensity and ability where the Mavs have truly ascended. After finishing in the bottom half of the league in adjusted defensive rating last year, Dallas is on the fringe of the top 5 in the same metric early this season.
Thompson has turned back the clock and is guarding with peak Warriors focus and intensity. Naji Marshall and Washington give the Mavs a pair of long, switchable defenders on the wing. And 48 minutes of Lively and Gafford in the middle of it all ensure reliable rim protection.
NBA pundits often say the mark of a true contender is a top-10 in both offense and defense and in that regard, the Mavericks are a true title contender. A replicable defensive approach has met what can be a high-powered offense, and when it clicks, Dallas can go toe-to-toe with anyone.
It’s not quite the same for the Utah Jazz, who have gone even younger this year and appear to be ready to bottom out. With the team’s veterans and best offensive threats, Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton, off to slow starts, Utah’s been arguably the league’s worst team — despite those struggles slightly mitigated by John Collins’ resurgence and a strong start to their sophomore campaign for Keyonte George.
That is, of course, completely expected and healthy for the Jazz. This season shouldn’t be about stretching their legs to reach 12th in the West. The priority is to develop young players like George, Walker Kessler, Cody Williams, and Isaiah Collier. If, along the way, they lose enough to position themselves to get a Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey-level prospect in next summer’s draft, even better. That’s Utah’s path to, eventually, dragging itself to the level the Mavs currently are.
If a top 10 mark in both offense and defense is a hallmark of a good team, then the Jazz may be the most glittering example of a bad team. Utah is the worst-ranked attack in adjusted offensive rating, averaging just under 104 points per 100 possessions. Though its defense is slightly better, it’s still comfortably in the bottom 10 in adjusted defensive rating. All told that equates to a dead-last adjusted net rating of -14.25 — nearly four points worse than last year’s 30th-ranked Charlotte Hornets.
The matchup of the Mavericks and the Jazz isn’t simply a meeting of good teams against bad teams. No, this is competitive vs. uncompetitive, a true-blue title contender against potentially the league’s worst team.
The two Western Conference foes are separated by nearly 20 points in adjusted net rating early on in the season. Not only will the Mavericks win in Utah, but they’ll roll right through and come away entirely untroubled by the lifeless Jazz.
How to Make Dallas Mavericks vs Utah Jazz Picks
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