Mavs Down Utah

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The Dallas Mavericks may have lit the spark to their playoff hopes after their 113-108 win against the Utah Jazz. The Mavericks are now tied with the Jazz for ninth place in the conference, one spot shy of the playoffs.

The Mavericks took over the game in the third quarter going on a 20-2 run to break open the game. Guard Mike James led the run scoring 12 points in the third quarter on 4-for-4 shooting. James led Dallas with a season-high 19 points in the win.

Utah was able to come back in the final seconds of the game as they were able to get the game back to within 3 points with 7.3 seconds. A couple of free throws by Mavericks guard Darren Collison put away the game for Dallas.

“We have to learn how to finish games. It wasn’t fun at the end of the game. We have to be able to put them away not let them have hope and not give them an opportunity, but that’s what we did tonight,” said Mavericks guard Mike James. “The good thing is that we were able to finish it when we only played 46-47 minutes. This game is a 48-minute game and we shouldn’t make the same mistakes again.”

Forward Shawn Marion had a great game against the Jazz, scoring 15 points on his second game since being out with an injury. Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points and 6 rebounds in the win.

Dallas hopes to take sole ownership of ninth place when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. Tip-off is in Dallas at 8:30 p.m.