Washington Wizards Suffer Another Setback, Lose to Dallas Mavericks
By Ben Mehic
Washington Wizards seemed to have momentum on their side against the Dallas Mavericks, but couldn’t capture their fourth road win of the season.
After allowing the Houston Rockets to complete a comeback on Monday night, the Washington Wizards had an opportunity to redeem themselves in Texas against the Dallas Mavericks the day after their previous defeat.
Despite it being the second game of a back-to-back, the Wizards were considered the favorite against the Mavericks, who entered the game 14 losses below .500.
Road wins have been difficult to come by for the Wizards, who have won just three away from home thus far.
Dallas, at least on paper, should’ve been an “easy” win for the Wizards, but as history has shown, there’s really no such thing for the district’s team.
Washington surged during the second quarter, with John Wall scoring 15 of his 27 points in that stretch, but fell apart late, just as they did against the Rockets.
Against Houston, the Wizards scored just 38 points in the second half.
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They scored 48 in the second half in Dallas, but gave up 52.
The Wizards were outscored by double-digits to start the fourth quarter, putting themselves in a momentum hole, so to speak, and were unable to stop the Mavericks from finding a rhythm from deep.
As Bullets Forever’s Alan Jenkins noted, Wesley Matthews, Seth Curry and Harrison Barnes all knocked down shots from deep, burying the Wizards and locking up another loss for D.C., 113-105.
Following Tuesday’s loss, the Wizards slid back out of the playoff picture, down to the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference.
Washington had a chance to get back to .500, but have now found themselves in a similar situation before their December run.
Losses like the one in Dallas make it virtually impossible for the Washington Wizards to gain the necessary confidence to push them forward.
Both John Wall and Bradley Beal scored 25-plus points, yet the team still didn’t have enough firepower to put away one of the worst teams in the NBA, at least record-wise.
Washington’s second unit was still unhelpful, contributing just 15 points in the outing. All five starters were in double-digits.
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Scott Brooks and his club will head home to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.