The Dallas Mavericks and the Texas Rangers were back in action Tuesday.
Here’s what happened on the court, on the field, and behind the scenes.
NBA
Dallas Mavericks (34-32, second in Southwest Division, fifth in Western Conference)
Last Game: Mavericks 120, Utah Jazz 116
Kyrie Irving scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Mavericks end their six-game homestand on a high note. Dallas held a three-point lead with 3.1 seconds left and sent Utah’s Talen Horton-Tucker to the free-throw line. After making the first shot, he purposely missed the second so the Jazz would have a chance to tie the game, but the Mavs came up with the rebound to seal the deal.
“The last few games have been really close and we haven’t closed out as well as we would have liked,” Irving told reporters after the game.
“I haven’t closed out as well as I would have liked. Just putting a lot of pressure on myself. Now we just settle into what’s in front of us and control what we can control and tonight it could have gone either way against a short-handed Jazz team. You saw that in the effort that we had to come out with in the second half warranted us to play a little harder.”
Noteworthy: The Mavericks have now won six consecutive regular-season games against the Jazz. With the win, Dallas finishes its homestand and moves into fifth place in the Western Conference — tied with the Golden State Warriors and half a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers.
Next Up: Mavericks at New Orleans Pelicans (31-34), 6:30 p.m. CT Wednesday
***
MLB — SPRING TRAINING
Texas Rangers (6-7 in Cactus League)
Last Game: Chicago Cubs 9, Rangers 6
The Rangers and Cubs combined for three home runs in the first inning as Texas took a 4-1 lead. Chicago battled back in the middle innings, and a pair of home runs from catcher Luis Torrens gave the Cubs an 8-6 lead. Chicago added another run on a base hit in the ninth to win by three.
Noteworthy: While the Rangers have been among the best offenses in the Cactus League this spring, they fall to 5-7 in games where they have hit home runs. Corey Seager, Bubba Thompson, and Josh Jung went deep on Tuesday.
Next Up: Rangers at Arizona Diamondbacks (4-8), 2:10 p.m. CT Wednesday.
