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Wizards knock off Mavericks for a notable road victory

By Chase Hughes

Wizards knock off Mavericks for a notable road victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The Washington Wizards beat the Mavericks 120-114 in Dallas on Saturday night. Here are five observations from what went down…

Big road win

While the Wizards may have just barely beaten a young and struggling Thunder team on Friday, they were able to turn around the next night and secure a victory that was quite a bit more impressive. They went into Dallas and took out a Mavericks team that entered the day sitting fourth in the Western Conference.

That marked two straight wins for the Wizards, who moved to 2-1 on their four-game road trip. They will close it out at the San Antonio Spurs on Monday before returning home for two games against the Timberwolves and Cavs.

The Wizards had to come back from down eight points at halftime after Dallas outscored them 33-20 in the second quarter. But Washington chipped away slowly but surely to take the lead with about eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Once again, Kyle Kuzma came in the clutch with a timely 3-pointer. His triple with 1:34 left put the Wizards up three and they didn’t look back.

The Mavs are the best team in the West that the Wizards have beaten this season, based on the current standings. The Wizards are now 13-7 on the year

Beal vs. Luka

This game at times turned into a shootout between two of the best scorers in the world; Bradley Beal and Luka Doncic. Both got going early and neither found much resistance from the opposing defense. Beal hit his first seven shots, while Doncic wasn’t far behind as they each had 17 points at halftime.

Beal finished the game with 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals on 10-for-14 shooting. Doncic had 33 points, 10 assists and four rebounds, all while shooting 13-for-25 from the field. Beal looked the best he has all season in terms of his ability to create space and execute. Doncic, meanwhile, was doing all this on an injured left ankle and knee.

Avdija on Luka

One matchup that was intriguing going in was Doncic against Deni Avdija, who is starting to make a name for himself on the defensive end. He is about the same size and was also drafted from the EuroLeague. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said before the game Avdija would spend some time guarding Doncic and that is indeed what happened. Kuzma started out on Doncic before Avdija took over once he came off the bench.

Unfortunately for those looking forward to their duel, it seemed like every time Avdija was on Doncic the Mavs broke him free of a screen. Avdija was constantly getting picks set from behind and often had to switch onto another player. When he tried to stay with Doncic, he made Avdija pay, including in the first half when he nailed a three when Avdija went under the screen. 

The Mavs like to run plenty of pick-and-roll when Doncic is the ball-handler, but perhaps it could also be seen as a sign of respect that they were so active in trying to get switches. Doncic was hunting mismatches and may have seen Avdija is someone to avoid when possible.

Not much defense

Beal and Doncic weren’t the only players to find a rhythm, as both teams had big nights on the offensive end. The Wizards shot 57.7% from the field, while the Mavs shot 14-for-38 (36.8%) from three. In addition to Beal on the Wizards, Kuzma had a good game with 22 points, so did Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 16 points. Daniel Gafford added 14 points (with 10 rebounds and two blocks), Montrezl Harrell had 11 points, while Raul Neto had a strong game with 13 points, six assists and five boards.

For the Mavs, Kristaps Porzingis had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber and Trey Burke came off the bench to drop 27 points combined. After a strong start to the season defensively, the Wizards have been inconsistent in recent games. They gave up 69 points in the first half, but only allowed 45 in the second half. That was the difference in the win.

Bertans is struggling

The return of Davis Bertans has not gone so well. The veteran forward played his third game since returning from a left ankle sprain and once again went to Antarctica from long range. He was 0-for-3 in his first eight minutes before Unseld Jr. sat him on the bench until there were about four minutes left in the third quarter. After two more misses from deep, he was out of the game for good.

Bertans is now 1-for-16 from long range since returning. Unseld Jr. basically gave his late-game minutes to rookie Corey Kispert, who rewarded him with two clutch buckets in the fourth quarter. Both of them were on cuts to the rim, which is a noted aspect of Kispert’s offensive game. He comes from Gonzaga where Mark Few runs an offense that is in many ways designed around them.

Wizards wrap up West Coast road trip getting beat by Steph Curry and Warriors

By Chase Hughes
Wizards wrap up West Coast road trip with loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonThe Washington Wizards lost to the Golden State Warriors 126-112 on Monday night. Here are five observations from what went down...Losers in 7 of 9The Wizards traveled through Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco, playing four games along the way, and will return home to Washington with nothing to show for it. They lost to the Warriors on Monday night to complete the road trip sweep, which did significant damage to their hopes of making the play-in tournament.Golden State was their toughest stop, as they had to deal with the legendary backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Both guards played well to lead the Warriors, Curry with 47 points and Thompson with 20. They set the tone for a Warriors outside shooting barrage that saw them hit 18 3-pointers.Curry's 47 points marked the third straight game an opposing player has dropped 40-plus on the Wizards. LeBron James got 50 on them Friday night and then Josh Hart scored 44 the next night. They happen to see Nikola Jokic, the favorite for this year's MVP award, up next on Wednesday.The Wizards have now lost seven of their last nine games overall and their fourth straight. They now trail the Hornets by four games for the final spot in the play-in tournament, a gap that will be difficult to overcome with only 15 games left on their schedule. The Wizards are now nine games under .500 at 29-38 on the year.Porzingis was backAfter sitting the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Wizards' lineup to play his fourth game with the team. He put together a solid line of 25 points and eight rebounds. Along the way, there were some very good signs from him and Kyle Kuzma. They have unique potential as an offensive duo at the four and the five and this game was the best example so far of what they could someday be. Kuzma made a series of plays off the dribble to find Porzingis looks at the basket that you just don't often see from a four setting up a five. Porzingis, meanwhile, found Kuzma with a nice pocket pass from the top of the key as the latter cut to the rim.Before the game, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was asked about Porzingis and back-to-backs, as the Wizards have four more of them left on their schedule, including this weekend against the Knicks and the Lakers. In somewhat of a surprise, Unseld Jr. indicated Porzingis won't have to sit out any of those games. Even though Porzingis isn't coming back from a serious injury, the Wizards had been practicing extra caution, in part because of where they are in the standings. But Porzingis is playing well and looking healthy, so apparently, they don't feel need to continue doing that.Draymond returnedThis was probably going to be a tough game for the Wizards to win, given it was the much-awaited return of Draymond Green, who had been out since Jan. 9 with a combination of injuries. Not only was he back, he took the floor with Curry and Thompson for the first time in 1,005 days, once again reuniting one of the greatest trios in NBA history. Plus, the game was at home, so it was a special night for the Warriors all around.Green looked good, per usual. He quickly hit a three after coming in off the bench and finished with a balanced stat-line of six points, seven rebounds and six assists. Somehow, the Warriors maintained the No. 1 defense in the NBA even while playing without him for two months. But now that Green is back, the Warriors may have reinstalled themselves as the favorites to win the NBA title this year. They have the third-best record in the league, but it's going to be hard to bet against those three if they stay healthy.Hachimura stays hotThe more he makes threes, the more Rui Hachimura's outside shooting is becoming one of the very best and most encouraging parts of this Wizards season. He's been a completely different player in that regard, now 27 games in and still looking like the best shooter in the Wizards. On Monday, he hit two threes shortly after entering the game and ended up with 12 points, going 2-for-2 from long range.It was the 14th straight game Hachimura has made at least one three, which is a season-high streak among Wizards this season. It was also the 11th time this year he had made multiple threes, again in 27 games. Last season, he did that only nine times in 57 games. As a rookie, he hit multiple threes five times in 48 games. Hachimura is now shooting 52.2% from deep this season overall. He's been lights-out and is showing no signs of cooling off.Avdija was betterOne of the positive developments in this game for the Wizards was the play of Deni Avdija, who managed 13 points after going scoreless in his previous three games. Avdija was 0-for-10 from the field in those games, but came out to hit his first two shots in this one. He got started with a layup through some contact under the rim, then sank a catch-and-shoot three from the wing. Avdija put in a decent game, also with four assists and three rebounds, shooting 4-for-8 from the field.Avdija may be hitting a bit of a wall, now 67 games into his second season. He only played in 54 games his rookie year and, though he was a professional before jumping to the NBA, never played more than 26 games in a EuroLeague season. Part of the adjustment as a young NBA player is getting acclimated to an 82-game schedule, both physically and mentally. Unseld Jr. has been asked a few times recently about Avdija's struggles and has offered up several reasons, fatigue and him needing to relax among them.
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