This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Jazz open their regular season Wednesday night at EnergySolutions Arena against Dallas, which comes off an impressive victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite missing All-Star Dirk Nowitzki and center Chris Kaman during their opener Tuesday night, the Mavericks pounded the Lakers at Staples Center, 99-91.
New point guard Darren Collison scored 17 points to lead the Mavs, whose performance against Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and the Lakers caught the eye of Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin.
"Dallas played hard," he said. "They had guys out of the lineup, but the guys on the floor played extremely hard. They [went] small a few times, and that small group did a good job for them coming in and creating tempo."
The Jazz, who went 5-3 in the preseason, lost three of four games against the Mavericks last season.
Corbin plans to start Al Jefferson at center, Paul Millsap at power forward and Gordon Hayward at shooting guard. Two players acquired during the offseason, Marvin Williams and Mo Williams, will start at small forward and point guard, respectively.
According to Corbin, he wants to see "how excited we are" to start the regular season and "how quickly we can force our will" on the Mavericks.