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DALLAS -- As it turns out, Salt Lake City is a tough game.
Prior to the Jazz’s thrilling 99-98 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday, Lebron James told The Associated Press that “Salt Lake City is a tough game.”
King James (Lebron) accurately predicted that the matchup with the Jazz would be a challenging one. What he didn’t see coming was the Jazz cooling off his streaking Heat team.
Devin Harris put the Jazz up by one with 4.5 seconds remaining when he was fouled on a floater in the lane. The shot went in, Harris went down and then the veteran calmly sank what would prove to be the game-winning free-throw.
James, who led a furious fourth quarter Heat rally by scoring 17 points, had the ball in his hands with a chance to hit the game winner, but with a double-team approaching chose to pass the ball to teammate Udonis Haslem. Haslem’s jumper clanked off the rim and the Jazz pulled out the hard-fought victory against the best team in the Eastern Conference.
“I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games,” James said to The Associated Press after the game “At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot. But I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor.”
Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said Friday’s win over the Heat was a team effort.
“I’ll tell you what, this is a great, great win for our guys,” Corbin said to reporters after the game. “They did a great job of hanging in there, a great team win for us.”
After winning consecutive home games, the Jazz now face the challenge of keeping their modest two-game win streak alive as they begin a five-game road trip that will have them playing in five cities in eight nights, beginning tonight in Dallas against the Mavericks.
The Mavericks are going through one of their most difficult stretches of the season. The Mavericks have lost four straight, a season high, including a shocking 97-92 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday. The Mavericks are also struggling to keep preseason acquisition Lamar Odom happy and are hoping a one-game demotion to the D- league will help the embattled player.
Odom’s game with the Texas Legends is tonight, which will mean the former sixth man of the year and current reality TV star will be out against the Jazz.
The Jazz will take any break they can get against the Mavericks. The Jazz have lost six consecutive times to the boys from Big D. The Jazz were swept last season and were beaten in two previous meetings this year, a 94-91 loss at EnergySolutions Arena on Jan. 19 and again by the score of 116-101 in Dallas on Jan 27.
While the Jazz are 3-12 on the road this season, a win against a slumping Mavericks team could bring their overall record to .500 at 18-18. A win would help them stay in the playoff race. The Jazz trail No. 8 seed Denver by two games.
The game takes place at 6:30 p.m. at American Airlines Arena in Dallas and will be televised on Root Sports.
Jarrod Hiatt is a freelance writer who writes Jazz previews for KSL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @jarrodhiatt.
