Hood forces OT, Hayward beats buzzer for big Jazz win over Mavs
Although they have not garnered much attention, the Utah Jazz have been one of the NBA’s hottest teams over the past few weeks. They came into Tuesday night’s road game at the Dallas Mavericks having won six in a row, good enough to rise to .500 at 25-25. Another victory would give them more wins than losses for the first time since the last days of November, when they were 8-7.
It took 53 minutes to get it, but Utah left Dallas with their first win at the American Airlines Center in exactly six years and a month. And they did it with two very dramatic shots.
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Down 10 early in the fourth quarter and 104-101 with 20 seconds left in regulation, the Jazz opted to trade quick twos from Gordon Hayward with free throws for Deron Williams and Raymond Felton. Having made up no ground, they had to take a three to force overtime with just a few seconds left. Rodney Hood came through:
Utah avoided a second OT with more heroics from Hayward. A Chandler Parsons three-pointer with 1:47 remaining tied it at 119-119, but the two teams failed to score over the next several possessions to set up one final play for the Jazz. Hood beat Wesley Matthews off the dribble to force a foul on the floor. Utah appeared to want to get the ball to Hood again on the next try, but Hayward did just fine once he got the ball:
That buzzer-beater finished off the 121-119 Utah win, which combined with the Houston Rockets’ loss to the Golden State Warriors later in the night to put the Jazz into seventh place in the West. With the Mavericks looking rather average over the last few weeks, it’s not out of the question that the Jazz could make up the one-game gap to No. 6 quite soon. For that matter, Marc Gasol’s broken foot could send the No. 5 Memphis Grizzlies sliding down the standings.
It’s perhaps a little early to consider such scenarios given that the Jazz are just a game ahead of the ninth-place Portland Trail Blazers, but it’s easy to feel good about their play during this seven-game winning streak. While the likes of Hayward, Rudy Gobert, and Derrick Favors have been identified as budding stars, Hood has been a recent revelation, scoring a game-high 29 points (12-of-26 FG) to make it seven of his last 10 games with at least 22 points. Those contributions have been especially important to a group lacking some perimeter playmaking following a run of backcourt injuries.
The Jazz have been inconsistent enough to inspire caution. But they have a clear opportunity to establish themselves as a playoff team over the next few weeks.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
