On Friday night, Utah faces the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. That means Hayward has a return matchup with old teammate Deron Williams. And Wes Matthews. And Jeremy Evans. And Devin Harris. Yes, the Mavericks are stacked with former Jazz players.
Dallas is playing very well so far this season, having won six consecutive games and pushing its record to 8-4. Most encouraging for the Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki is still Dirk Nowitzki, even at 37 years old. The seven-foot power forward is having a great start to the season, averaging 18.5 points a night, with seven rebounds a night.