The Dallas Mavericks dropped an embarrassing game to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, 115-113, making it their fourth straight loss, all in the clutch. They faced a deficit of as many as 16 points but took the lead late on before falling apart again in the final minute and losing.

It was a frustrating game that was all too familiar to Mavs fans. The same issues that have plagued the team all season came back to bite them in this game. They need to fix some issues quickly because the Western Conference is a bloodbath.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday night’s disappointment.

READ MORE: Mavericks drop embarrassing game to Utah Jazz, 115-113

It’s getting a little repetitive to say what’s costing the Mavericks these games because it’s the exact same things: lack of energy, foul fouls, getting killed by offensive rebounds, struggling in the clutch, and the three-point shooting is disappointing, especially from Luka. Doncic. It’s one thing to lose to good teams in the clutch, but this is the Utah Jazz, who hadn’t won a home game all year. Dallas allowed the Jazz to grab 18 offensive rebounds, while the Mavs shot just 30.9% from three and converted it 17 times. Dallas is better than this.

All Dallas had to do to win this game was keep Dereck Lively II out of trouble. In his 17 minutes, he had a plus/minus of +11, while Daniel Gafford was -19. Lively picked up his fourth foul just 1:15 into the second half, but Jason Kidd left him there for a few minutes, and a few minutes later he picked up his fifth. When he was brought back into the game in the fourth quarter, he made an immediate impact and Dallas started to get back into the game. If he could have kept himself out of trouble, Dallas would have won this game, even with his huge mistake in the final seconds.

Jason Kidd experimented with lineups early in this game, including filling in for Dwight Powell at power forward. Although he had three assists and two blocks, his refusal to shoot stalled the offense at times. If he is going to play, he has to shoot or play in the middle.

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