SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 97-81 win over the Dallas Mavericks from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Fantastic defense from starting lineup delivers Jazz win

The Jazz, after flying late last night from San Antonio to Salt Lake, put up a fantastic defensive performance to allow only 81 points to the Dallas Mavericks, leading them to win with relative ease. No Maverick scored more than 14 points.

I mention the back-to-back thing because usually, teams playing on the second game of a back to back play worse defense than teams with normal rest. Tonight, though, the Jazz's starters played fantastic defense, led by Rudy Gobert. When the Stifle Tower was on the floor tonight, the Jazz allowed the Mavs to score only 69 points per 100 possessions, fantastic by any measure.

There were a lot of good things about the Jazz's defense, but the best part, I felt, was that they prevented the Mavs from going to the free-throw line. Last year, the Mavs had seven games when they shot 12 free throws or fewer, they lost all seven. Tonight, they shot just 10. The Jazz did that primarily by keeping the Mavs out of the paint in the first place, thanks to solid perimeter defense all around from George Hill, Joe Johnson, and Rodney Hood.

Quin Snyder's said repeatedly that he wants solid defense to be the identity of this team. For the last four games, that's worked, even without Gordon Hayward and a limited Derrick Favors.

Snyder seemed most impressed by the fact that his defense was able to be solid in an "unconventional game," with Dallas playing much of their minutes with Dirk Nowitzki at the center position. "It's a little more difficult to evaluate fundamentally what you're doing defensively," Snyder said.

2. End of third quarter run by Mavs keeps it close

There was exactly one scare, though. The Jazz extended their lead to 20 points with 3 minutes left to go in the third, and it was exactly that point when the Mavericks went on a 19-2 run to cut the lead to just three.

When I asked the Jazz's players and coaches what happened during the run, most of them simply credited the Mavericks' scoring. They felt that Dallas was making tough shots, and it was the offense that really let them down in the stretch.

"I think more than allowing them to get back, they got back. They scored. I thought our defense hurt our defense during that stretch. We looked tired on the offensive end," Snyder said. "Give them credit: Barea made some tough shots, Harrison Barnes got it going. There were some good contested shots, and they made some tough plays."

This one falls on the Jazz's bench, who played really well defensively last night against San Antonio, but didn't tonight. The Jazz allowed 139.6 points per 100 possessions while Dante Exum was in, for example. Before the game, Snyder said that the second unit "needs to be resolute on the defensive end. That needs to become what they hang their hat on." That wasn't the case tonight.

By the way, I got a lot of comments on my Twitter timeline during the game that Snyder should have called a timeout at some point in those final three third-quarter minutes in order to stop that run. Here's the thing: there's not any evidence that calling a timeout stops positive momentum more than not calling a timeout. In 2011, a researcher at Bryn Mawr University found that calling a timeout doesn't lead to a halt in momentum any more frequently than not calling a timeout. The key quote: "The commonly held belief expressed by coaches, fans, and the media that timeouts are necessary to halt positive momentum is not supported by the data in this study."

3. George Hill is so good

I've written an ode to George Hill already so recently, but his play over the last four games has deserved special recognition. For the fourth consecutive game, Hill was the Jazz's best player, scoring 25 points on only 15 shots, and adding six rebounds and four assists.

That means to start the season, he's scored 19, 23, 18, 22, and 25 points. He's shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line. Maybe most impressive is how he's been doing it: when the Jazz have needed scoring most, he's done it. From last night's personal 8-2 run in the fourth, to tonight's 10 fourth-quarter points, Hill has been fantastic whenever the Jazz need him.

And he's been special defensively, too. I mentioned the perimeter defense tonight, but he's also leading the team defensively more than you'd expect from a point guard. Snyder was asked before the game about Hill's impact so far:

“I think that’s the essence of who he is. He’s just going to do what’s asked of him and what he thinks needs to get done to win games," Snyder said. I think maybe the biggest thing is just his willingness and ability to communicate… That could be during a huddle in a time out with Rudy, it could be after practice with Gordon, it could be on the team plane with a card game. It can take so many forms, but that kind of interaction and respect that he’s able to gain from his teammates is a big deal.”

But if you ask Hill, he's typically humble about his contributions. "I'm just happy to be winning. I don't care about the numbers. I'm just doing what it takes to try to win the game. I'm glad my teammates have confidence in me to control the tempo out there and try to make plays. I just want to win."

This is way premature, but if Hill keeps this up, the Jazz are going to have to make a play at keeping him in free agency this offseason. He's just too good to let go.

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