Utah Jazz: 3 teams the Jazz should want to play come playoff time

2. Dallas Mavericks

The Utah Jazz are 2-0 against the Dallas Mavericks this season, winning by five points in January and four points in February. All-Star and outside-looking-in MVP candidate Luka Doncic was out of the lineup for one of those contests, though, so take the results with a grain of salt.

Speaking of Doncic, he’s been nothing short of brilliant in his second season. He’s averaging a near triple-double and is engineering one of the greatest offenses the league has ever seen. He alone should keep Snyder and company up at night. Oh yeah, the Mavs also have a guy named Kristaps Porzingis on the roster.

After taking some time to heal up and get back in the swing of things, Porzingis has exploded. In his last 12 games, ‘The Unicorn’ is averaging 27.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest on 50 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range. Contrary to the popular narrative that he wears down as the season continues, he’s gotten stronger as we near the end of the ’19-’20 campaign.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry also provide quick scoring and shot creation when Doncic and Porzingis are either on the bench or need some extra help. While Dallas might be a quality piece and a couple of depth guys away from contending, the core is there for something special.

Donovan Mitchell vs. Luka Doncic would be one of the most exciting matchups of the postseason, as both young stars are primarily responsible for their teams’ success. If these two teams played each other a year from now, the Jazz wouldn’t want anything to do with the Mavericks. This will be Doncic’s first time in the postseason, though, so the matchup is tolerable.