John Collins scores on a late dunk to lift Jazz past Mavericks for 1st home victory

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — John Collins scored the last of his 28 points on a tiebreaking dunk with 6.4 seconds left to give the Utah Jazz their first home victory of the season, 115-113 over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

Collins also had nine rebounds. Jordan Clarkson added 20 points.

Luka Doncic had 37 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Dallas. Quentin Grimes added 15 points and five assists while filling in for Kyrie Irving, who missed the game because of a right shoulder sprain. Klay Thompson had 17 points.

The Mavericks erased the double-digit deficit and tied it on Thompson’s 3-pointer in the final minute. Collins answered with his winner.

Dallas led at halftime and got six third-quarter baskets from Doncic. It wasn’t enough to keep the Jazz from surging ahead as the quarter progressed. Utah ripped off a 9-0 run following back-to-back baskets from Doncic and went up 90-78 on Collins’ tip-in layup.

John Collins scores on a late dunk to lift Jazz past Mavericks for 1st home victory | iNFOnews.ca — Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) goes for the ball along with Utah Jazz guard Johnny Juzang, second from left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

Takeaways

Mavericks: Irving’s absence deprived Dallas of a reliable second scorer and inhibited efforts to keep pace with a red-hot Utah offense.

Jazz: Kyle Filipowski is showing signs of evolving into a reliable scorer. The rookie forward is averaging 16.0 points on 68.4% shooting over his last two games.

Key moment

Utah scored baskets on six straight third-quarter possessions to take and 81-73 lead. Lauri Markkanen scored three baskets himself, culminating in a step-back 3-pointer.