John Collins Late Heroics Lifts Jazz Over Mavericks
Nov 14, 2024, 10:36 PM | Updated: Nov 15, 2024, 12:51 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks 115-113, earning their third win of the season, and their first of the year at home.
The Jazz had opened the season with an 0-5 record in Salt Lake City, their worst start at home as a franchise since 1974 before overcoming a late Dallas rally.
John Collins scored 28 points to lead the Jazz while Luka Doncic led all scorers with 37.
Collins Strong Play Isn’t A New Development
Collins was the Jazz’s best player for the second straight outing, following Tuesday’s 29 point, 10 rebound outing against the Phoenix Suns with a 28 point, nine rebound double-double against Dallas.
The veteran forward was critical for the Jazz down the stretch after All-Star Lauri Markkanen left the game with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter.
With the Jazz leading 104-94, Markkanen was scraped across the face by Dallas’s Naji Marshall, went to the locker room, and never returned to the floor.
The Mavericks erased the Jazz’s double-digit lead over the final seven minutes of the game, even taking a brief two point lead with 1:33 left to play.
But over the final 90 seconds, Collins scored four points on two dunks, including the final bucket with three seconds left to play to lift the Jazz to victory.
Jordan Clarkson on finding John Collins for the game-winning dunk.
“I’m just happy me and John had some, like, telekinesis action going on.”#takenote pic.twitter.com/O8qV4WSciM
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) November 15, 2024
“I just wanted to come out here and obviously play as hard as I could for the fans, but more importantly, get a win, and we got that today,” Collins said.
While the veteran’s play this season has felt like a revelation, his improvement began to show late last season.
After averaging just 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds over his first 41 games in Utah, Collins upped his averages to 17.1 points and 9.7 rebounds over his final 27 appearances.
With the Jazz quickly fading in the standings after the All-Star break, it was easy to overlook Collins’s late-season performance, but he’s carried it into the 2024-25 campaign.
Through 11 games, Collins is now averaging 18.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and a career-high 2.7 assists, building on last year’s strong close to the season.
While it’s too early in the season to draw any conclusions from Collins’s strong play, his reputation is quickly shifting away from that of a high-priced tweener, to one of the better reserves in the NBA.
Jazz Coach Celebrates Filipowski’s Defense Against Mavericks
It’s not often a coach praises a player’s defense when the man he was guarding finished with 37 points, but that’s exactly what happened with Will Hardy and Kyle Filipowski.
“I think Kyle’s defense was way more impressive tonight than his offense,” Hardy said. “I think Doncic picked him a lot to isolate, and I thought that Kyle was fantastic.”
hitting the peak and enjoying that crisp mountain air 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/GBQVc4XlGF
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 15, 2024
Doncic is one of the league’s best players, and proved it again in Utah shooting an efficient 13-25 from the floor to go with seven rebounds and nine assists, but had to work to get his shots off against Filipowski.
“I thought that Kyle did a really good job of moving his feet, using his body, bracing up for contact, and really not being sloppy with his hands fouling,” Hardy added.
Filipowski started for the Jazz, replacing fellow rookie Cody Williams, and recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in a career-high 29 minutes.
what’s a mountain to a molehill? 🏔️ pic.twitter.com/7jzwWEdAsu
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 15, 2024
At seven feet tall, the Duke product is surprisingly agile and has shown a level of comfort defending smaller players in space.
After Taylor Hendricks was lost for the season in late October, it was clear Filipowski would be tasked with filling his minutes. While it’s no surprise he’s absorbed Hendricks’s playing time, nobody expected the rookie to assume his role as the team’s defensive stopper.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Kyle’s offensive game tonight, but for me, I walk away feeling way more impressed by what he did defensively,” Hardy concluded.
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will travel to face the Sacramento Kings on Saturday at 8 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
