Klay Thompson eclipses 17,000 career points as Mavs roll past Jazz
Another milestone for Klay Thompson and another romp for the Dallas Mavericks, who downed the visiting Utah Jazz 138-120 Saturday afternoon.
Thompson had 23 points in just 20 minutes and surpassed 17,000 points in his NBA career. Max Christie and Brandon Williams each scored 22 for the Mavs, who beat the Jazz at home by a comfortable margin for the second time in three days.
Keyonte George had a game-high 29 for Utah and Brice Sensabaugh chipped in 25 off the bench for the Jazz, who have now lost three in a row and nine of their last 11 games.
Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg sat out his second straight game with a sprained ankle. Jazz leading scorer Lauri Markkanen did not play due to illness.
Williams had a pair of early baskets as the Mavericks jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed. They made 12 of their first 16 shots and led 42-29 after the first quarter. Thompson had three threes in the first and finished 6 of 11 from three-point range.
Momentum began to shift in the third quarter. George was called for a flagrant foul after he pushed through a screen set by Dwight Powell, shoving Powell into Christie and both players went down. Powell made one free throw to extend the lead to 89-71 with 6:21 remaining in the third. A few minutes later, Naji Marshall was called for a flagrant foul after elbowing Walter Clayton Jr. during a drive to the basket.
The lead would top off at 23 points for Dallas, but George led a Utah comeback. He had 19 points in the third to trim the lead to 106-94 heading into the fourth.
Utah pulled to within 109-100 on a putback by Ace Bailey with 10:11 left, but that was as close as Utah would get. Marshall would spark a 7-0 Dallas run with a slash to the hoop and a basket, and the lead would grow to 129-108 Dallas with 6:13 left.
The Mavs and Jazz split the regular season series 2-2.