Dallas Mavericks vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 1/8/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Dallas Mavericks vs Utah Jazz

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: KJZZ

The Dallas Mavericks (14-23) are headed to Delta Center on Thursday where they will go up against the Utah Jazz (12-23).

The Mavericks took the court against the Kings and took home the win by a score of 100-98 in their last contest. When it comes to personal fouls, the Mavericks ended up with 12 while the Kings finished the game with 20 personal fouls. They converted 9 of their 31 attempts from 3-point land. Sacramento finished the contest at 64.7% at the charity stripe by making 11 of their 17 shots. In addition, Sacramento totaled 43 rebounds (8 offensive, 35 defensive) and had 3 blocks. Sacramento dished out 23 assists and had 11 steals in this game. In relation to defense, Dallas allowed their opponent to shoot 42.4% from the floor on 39 of 92 shooting. They also doled out 19 assists in this game as well as forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When discussing pulling down boards, they earned 55 with 15 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Mavericks knocked down 14 of 21 shots for a rate of 66.7%. Dallas walked away from the contest with a 40.6% FG percentage (39 out of 96) and knocked down 8 out of their 27 shots from distance.

Cooper Flagg is one player who had an impact in this matchup. Flagg ended up going 53.3% from the field and distributed 6 assists. He played 35 minutes and pulled down 8 boards. He walked away with 20 points on 8 out of 15 shooting.

Get all of our NBA Parlay Picks

Dallas steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss record of 14-23 this year. They are turning it over 15.4 times per contest and as a team are committing 19.4 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Dallas is snagging 44.7 rebounds per game and has 925 dimes for the year, which ranks 19th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Mavericks are connecting on 33.4% on three-point attempts (391 of 1,170) and 75.9% from the charity stripe. They average 113.1 pts per contest (26th in the league) while hitting 46.9% from the floor.

When they are on the defensive end, the Mavericks are able to force 13.6 turnovers every game and they draw 21.2 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 19th in the NBA in giving up assists with 979 relinquished on the year. The Mavericks defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 45.9% (1,601 of 3,485) and they relinquish 47.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are surrendering 33.2% on three-point shots and they are ranked 19th in the league in opponents PPG (116.9).

In their last game, the Jazz walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 137-117 against the Trail Blazers. Concerning team rebounding, Utah permitted Portland to snag 45 overall (14 on the offensive side). They finished 39.6% from three-point range by connecting on 19 of 48 and ended up going 20 out of 21 from the free throw line (95.2%). The Jazz permitted the Trail Blazers to make 49 of their 93 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 52.7% in this matchup. Overall, the Jazz went 45 for 92 from the field which gave them a rate of 48.9%. When it comes to shooting from downtown, Utah made 13 out of 31 tries (41.9%). They were able to make 14 of the free throw tries for a rate of 82.4%. The Trail Blazers committed 16 fouls in this matchup which took the Jazz to the charity stripe for a total of 17 attempts. They coughed up the ball 15 times, while earning 11 steals in the game. The Jazz were able to corral 28 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds totaling 42 for this game.

Lauri Markkanen was important for the Jazz for the matchup. He made 8 of 17 for the game giving him a rate of 47.1%, and accounted for 4 rebounds. Markkanen earned 22 points in his 32 mins of playing time and accumulated 4 dimes for the contest.

Utah has a win-loss record of 12-23 for the year. When it comes to offense, the Jazz are connecting on 46.3% from the floor, which is ranked 20th in the NBA. Utah has totaled 4,186 pts for the season (119.6 per contest) and they pull in 44.4 boards per game. They are earning an assist 30.1 times per game (2nd in the NBA) and they are turning it over 15.8 times per game. The Jazz are committing 22.4 fouls every game and they hit 80.6% from the charity stripe.

The Jazz defensively are ranked 30th in basketball in points given up per game with 127.0. They are able to force 13.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 49.2% from the field (29th in the league). The Utah defense gives up 37.6% from downtown (543 of 1,446) and opponents are converting on 78.2% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 30.2 assists and 44.8 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 30th and 18th in the league.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Utah and under the total points

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Get NBA picks on every single game, or if you want our very best bets by the experts, sign up for your free $60 account with a guarantee.