SALT LAKE CITY — Deron Williams scored 23 points, Dirk Nowitzki dropped in 22 and the Dallas Mavericks clinched at least the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a 101-92 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.
Wesley Matthews added 18 points for the Mavericks, who improved to 42-39 with a clutch win at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Williams added six assists and four rebounds against his former team, while Nowitzki grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Jazz’s playoff hopes suffered a huge hit with the loss.
Utah and Houston, which routed the Timberwolves in Minnesota, are now tied with 40-41 records. The Rockets own the tiebreaker over the Jazz and host Sacramento, which won’t have DeMarcus Cousins, on Wednesday.
Utah travels to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s career finale that same night.
Houston can clinch a playoff spot with a win, while the Jazz need to beat the Lakers and have the Rockets lose.
Gordon Hayward scored 26 points with six rebounds and four assists for Utah, but he was 1-for-9 from 3-point range. Shelvin Mack scored 18 points and Derrick Favors contributed 11 points after starting the game on the bench because of a knee injury.
This game became a painful reminder of the Jazz’s season story when starting center Rudy Gobert, the anchor of Utah’s defense, twisted his ankle in the second quarter. Gobert, who was leading the Jazz with six rebounds in 12 minutes, hobbled to the training room and didn’t come out with the team after halftime.
Dallas, which controlled the game throughout, came out strong after halftime, taking a 66-54 lead after a Williams 3-pointer.
Utah showed some life after that, going on a 10-0 run. Utah had a chance to go ahead, but Hayward missed a deep shot.
The Mavs responded with five straight points to end the quarter and continued their 7-0 run into the fourth quarter for a 73-64 lead.
While Utah’s offense continued to flounder, the Mavs stretched their lead back to double digits at 77-66.
Utah pulled within five in the final two minutes, but Dallas fended off the late rally.
In the first half, Williams looked like the All-Star who used to play for the Jazz. He scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lift Dallas to a 50-46 lead at the break.
NOTES: Jazz coach Quin Snyder believes his team, which he noted has the least amount of experience in the NBA, will take a valuable lesson out of this playoff push whether the team makes it or not. “When you think about those two things together, being involved in a situation like this for us is — obviously you want to win — but it’s a no-lose situation in that sense.” … Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has been impressed by the Jazz’s power forwards, Derrick Favors and Trey Lyles. “They are both a problem,” he said. “Lyles is coming off a career-high (Sunday, 24 points); Favors has been a big challenge for us the last three years.” … The Mavericks have four players on their roster who played for Utah earlier in their careers: PG Deron Williams, PG Devin Harris, SG Wesley Matthews and PF Jeremy Evans.