The Mavs lacked energy early, with the most passion shown being Dirk Nowitzki's brutal flagrant foul on Andrei Kirilenko that knocked him out of the game. The Mavs are a few steps slow on defense, struggling to keep pace on the boards and failing to keep the Jazz out of the paint.
The biggest positive is that Josh Howard is showing signs of life, hitting 6-of-7 shots for 17 points with seven minutes left in the third.
The one thing that jumps out -- and, yes, it's just one game -- is the disparity between Utah's Deron Williams and Dallas' Jason Kidd. There's no way to put a positive spin on things. Williams (11 points, 16 assists) is many levels above Kidd (three points, seven assists). Defense, passing, shooting, running an offense --it's really no contest in favor of Williams.
-- garza, mavs lite
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