News Mavericks Team Notes

[Dallas Mavericks]

Player Grades: Recapping Mavericks vs. Jazz

Coming off a tight win Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks took on the Utah Jazz looking for continued success, but lost a 116-114 contest in Salt Lake City similar to their last matchup with the Jazz when they allowed a big run to let one get away.

Let’s get to the grades!

Cooper Flagg: A​

26 PTS / 10 REB / 8 AST / 3 STL / 1 BLK – 38 MIN​

Flagg was excellent all night and arguably should have gotten more looks given how well he was playing. Regardless, his 10-for-18 shooting, including 3-for-6 from downtown made him the Mavs’ leading scorer. His near triple-double keeps his grade high despite the turnover total and four fouls.

Max Christie: B+​

16 PTS / 4 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN​

Coming off a rough shooting night in Tuesday’s game, Christie put that behind him and got right back to doing what he had been doing in recent weeks. He hit a huge three just as the game officially became “clutch” which put the Mavs up by seven at the time. Although Dallas didn’t close it out, Christie shot well (5-for-9; 3-for-6 from deep) and had a solid all-around game.

Naji Marshall: B​

17 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 37 MIN​

There are not enough reverse-superlatives to articulate how bad a turnover Marshall committed on an inbounds pass with under a minute remaining. It had no chance in any plane of reality whatsoever, and served as the cherry on top of Dallas blowing a winnable game as Utah went on a run to close it. To his credit, he otherwise had a solid game on 7-for-11 shooting and only one turnover, but it just felt a bit empty overall.

Anthony Davis: B​

21 PTS / 11 REB / 4 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK – 35 MIN​

This is the second game in a row that Davis’ grade does not appear commensurate with his box score, but watching the game told a different story than the number from my perspective. He hit 50% of his 20 shot attempts, but Davis got roasted on multiple occasions on the defensive end and too often clogged up the paint offensively, preventing his teammates from executing and getting to their spots. I’d respectfully comment he should not have been the leading shot taker on the team either. Davis left after a somewhat bizarre hand injury late in the fourth quarter, that as of this writing, has not been diagnosed and disclosed publicly other than coach Jason Kidd acknowledging Davis suffered a hand injury during his postgame media availability.

Daniel Gafford: D​

0 PTS / 7 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 25 MIN​

Gafford grabbed a handful of boards, but otherwise this was a no-show.

Ryan Nembhard: C+​

7 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 22 MIN​

There wasn’t much doing in this one. Nembhard couldn’t find his stroke, especially from downtown (1-for-4) and turned it over three times. It won’t show in the box score, but Nembhard gets bonus points for his relentless hassling of Jazz inbounders and full court pressure which helped the Mavs close the half on a nice run. That effort helped him to the best plus/minus on the team (by far) of plus-13.

Brandon Williams: N/A​

2 PTS / 3 REB / 1 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 9 MIN​

Williams unfortunately exited the game due to sickness and did not return, so we’ll refrain from grading his partial performance.

Klay Thompson: A​

23 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN​

Thompson found his shot since last time out, and aside from two bizarre turnovers in the early going, he scored nearly a point per minute played early on to keep Dallas close while Utah put on a dunk contest in the first quarter. From there, it only continued. He finished shooting 7-for-13, with six of those makes coming from downtown. His assist total was also his season high. It’s a shame one of his better performances of the season ended in a loss.

Final thoughts​

Dallas looked like the Washington General in the first quarter. The nature of their turnovers was almost comical and would make Benny Hill proud. They were literally falling down, double-dribbling and making horrific passes. Amazingly and despite the start, they had the game won but allowed Utah to make a big run to close things out. This was a bad loss exacerbated by the injury to Anthony Davis. Whether you want him here or want him traded, a long-term hand injury could spoil your day either way.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/dalla...kkanen-mavs-lose-116-114-anthony-davis-injury

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

Stats rundown: 3 Stats from The Mavs’ clutch loss to the Jazz, 116-114

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Utah Jazz, 116-114, but boy does Cooper Flagg love playing in Utah. He lead Dallas with 26 points, and was the only Maverick in the starting five to finish the game with a positive +/-, at +3.

Lauri Markkanen led all scorers with 33 and was supported with 19 from Keyonte George, who continues to play great in his breakout season.

68: points scored by Cooper Flagg in two games against Utah​

In his first game against the Jazz, Cooper set the high-scoring mark for his young career, putting up 42 points in what became his “I’ve arrived” game. In that first matchup, though, Flagg required 15 free throws to get to 42. Tonight, he earned just four, and made three of them.

It was his shooting from the floor — 10-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three — that powered the majority of his 26-point night. He also finished with eight assists and 10 rebounds, just two assists shy of his first triple-double, and what would be the youngest player to do so in league history. The watch continues. It’s just a shame both of those impressive nights from Flagg have ended with a loss (well, depending on what you want from this season)

-3: Pivotal shot taken off the board​

With Dallas holding a 107-103 lead with under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter (a clutch game, obviously), Cooper Flagg hit what looked like an astounding circus shot. He caught an inbounds pass, spun, and fired up a three from the corner with under a second to go on the shot clock. Nailed it.

Initially, the bucket was counted, but upon review, the shot was just late and resulted in a shot clock violation. So, instead of pushing the lead to seven, Utah got the ball, and Lauri Markkannen promptly went and laid in a hook shot, the start of an 11-1 Jazz run that vaulted them ahead of Dallas with a lead they never surrendered. The 3-pointer that got removed from the board was more than just a loss of points; it shifted the momentum in a game that had been back and forth all night.

1: season-altering finger injury​

Anthony Davis left the game in the fourth quarter with a finger injury. He went to the lockerroom and didn’t return. In a post-game press conference, all Coach Kidd could say about it was that Davis had injured his left hand.

With Atlanta moving Trae Young to the Wizards, it really felt like progress was being made to get AD sent to the team that has been most closely linked with Dallas in trade discussions. How much value AD possessed on the market has been hotly debated, but AD, with an injury to his hand that’s going to keep him out multiple weeks, is certainly going to be much less than it was before.

Dallas is attempting to tread an impossibly narrow path in retooling around Flagg with the few remaining assets they have to rebuild the team on the fly. Getting even less for AD means there’s going to be an even smaller room for error in this rebuild.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/dalla...from-the-mavs-clutch-loss-to-the-jazz-116-114

 

[Dallas Mavericks]

On the eve of a possible trade, Anthony Davis predictably injures himself, yet again

Anthony Davis went to the locker room late in the fourth quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ 116-114 loss at the Utah Jazz on Thursday, after brushing his hand against Lauri Markkanen’s jersey as Markkanen drove past Davis along the baseline on his way to two of his game-high 33 points.

Davis doubled over in pain immediately and walked out of bounds, clearing the lane for Markkanen to hit a little reverse layup as part of a 9-1 run that killed the Mavericks’ late comeback attempt at the Delta Center.

He seemed to know immediately. He was obviously in pain on the bench, a team trainer came over and the two headed straight for the locker room after a few seconds of back-and-forth. That sequence would seem to portend that the injury was more than just a jammed finger.

There were no updates on the nature or severity of the injury immediately after the game, but if Davis’ latest injury is anything more serious than a sprain, it could cloud the team’s outlook as the NBA’s Feb. 5 Trade Deadline approaches.

“He hurt his left hand,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said in his postgame comments. “That’s all we have.”

It’s not subterfuge; the injury had just occurred about 20 minutes before Kidd gave that answer. But on the other hand, this is not an encouraging quote at all. Any kind of prolonged hesitation on the team’s part to offer an update on his status could derail the team’s ability to get off Davis’ salary as soon as possible and switch gears to focus on building around rookie superstar Cooper Flagg, who scored 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished eight assists in the loss on Thursday.

Davis was expected to be traded before the deadline, likely for a combination of expiring contracts, spare parts and/or draft compensation. The Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors were two of the latest teams rumored to have interest in acquiring Davis.

watch AD's hand pic.twitter.com/29Dc364ld2

— MavsHighlights (@MavsHighlights) January 9, 2026

This hand injury could end up setting the Mavericks back in a big way. It came at the worst possible moment. His stat-padded good nights have buoyed his trade value to this point. If he’s on the shelf for anything longer than a week, you’d have to think Atlanta, Toronto, Golden State, Chicago and any other potential suitors would immediately vanish into the mist. And if the Mavericks are unable to move Davis before the trade deadline, they may be stuck with him until 2028.

That would put Dallas to a decision as soon as this offseason on whether to extend him when he becomes eligible for his next deal in August. The correct decision there, given Davis’ staggering injury history and franchise-crushing $120-million combined salary cap hit over the next two years, is not only no, but hell no. The list of potential teams interested in Davis’ services after this season will no doubt shrink, since his agent, Rich Paul, has made it known that Davis wants to play for a team that will extend him. If there is no interest in Davis outside the Mavericks, he would, at that point, almost certainly opt in to his player option for 2027-28, leaving Dallas even more hamstrung under the salary cap than they already are.

The Mavs are positioned well with Flagg as a tentpole to come out the other side of the worst trade in modern sports history with a chance to be relevant again in a couple of years. But that’s only if they’re able to offload Davis before the trade deadline or after this season. A 35-year-old Davis still eating up 35% of the salary cap in 2027 would be catastrophic.

That’s why moving him for spare parts and draft picks is such a valuable option for this team — anything that helps them avoid that fate is the best outcome for Dallas. This hand injury is the perfect microcosm for the Anthony Davis Experience in Dallas. This flukey hand injury is exactly why the best reason for trading Davis is simply to be rid of Davis. Yea, he looks good on some nights and still has the ability to influence actual wins against actual good teams in his best moments, but those moments come too few and too far between. They will come even fewer and even farther between over the next two years, if only because he continues to prove his inability to stay healthy.

There’s nothing sustainable about Davis’ good moments, because who knows when his hand is going to brush against someone’s jersey, sending him straight to the locker room the next time? The prognosis on this hand injury will have a ripple effect on the Mavs’ future for years to come.

UPDATE: NBA insider Marc Stein reported late Friday morning that imaging was scheduled on Friday to assess the severity of Davis’ injury.

Imaging is scheduled for today to determined the severity of Anthony Davis’ hand injury sustained Thursday night in Utah, league sources say.

The Mavericks are traveling to Chicago and Davis’ status for his annual homecoming game Saturday is not yet known. https://t.co/mwL3YF4LQh

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 9, 2026

The fact that imaging is even necessary suggests that there is at least some possibility that the injury is more severe than a simple jammed finger or hand. Davis’ status for Saturday’s game at the Chicago Bulls remains in question as of Friday afternoon.

Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/maver...y-davis-predictably-injures-himself-yet-again