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Flipping the calendar didn’t change the road woes for the Wizards who fell to 3-12 on the road thanks to a 113-105 loss to the Mavericks. All five Wizards starters scored in double-figures led by John Wall with 27 but it wouldn’t be enough as the bench chipped in with just 15 points collectively. Harrison Barnes led the way for the Mavericks with 26 points as the Wizards lost another one on the road, 113-105.
The Wizards started 0-7 from the field as they would endure many scoring droughts. After finding their footing, the Wizards would knock down four of their first five three-pointers to climb back in this one late in the first quarter.
Wall, the Eastern Conference Player of the month, showed everyone why he was deserving of the award in a late burst in the second quarter. Wall scored 15 of his 27 points in the second period as the Wizards ended the quarter on an 18-3 run over the last 2:29 of the half to take a 67-61 lead into the break.
We scored 15 points in the final 1:43 of the half, @JohnWall scored 13 of those 15 points #NBAVote #WizMavs
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 4, 2017
Things looked good for the Wizards to start the second half as Wall and Morris connected on an alley-oop. But the Wizards would endure another cold stretch midway through the third quarter that let the Mavericks get back into the game.
Dallas then started the fourth quarter on a 20-9 run behind three-pointers from Wesley Matthews, Seth Curry, and Harrison Barnes that put the game out of reach for the Wizards. The Mavs would outscore the Wizards 52-38 in the second half to hand the Wizards their latest rough loss on the road.
Wall explodes in the second quarter
The Mavericks were up by nine at one point in the second quarter but found themselves down six at halftime in a 15-point momentum swing. Why? John Wall. Wall turned defense into offense on two occasions resulting in easy layups on the other end. Wall had several other nice drives to the hole as well as a pull-up three in transition as the Wizards regained the lead. The Wallstar scored 15 of his 27 points in the second period.
Just like at the end of the 1st quarter, John Wall had an impressive and-1 to end the 2nd. #WizMavs pic.twitter.com/tubFS1QGhX
— CSN Wizards (@CSNWizards) January 4, 2017
Wizards show no life in the fourth quarter
The Wizards missed their first six shots of the quarter as the Mavs outscored them 20-9 to start the period. The Mavs kept hitting shots from three-point range whereas the Wizards had to struggle for every point. An alley-oop from Wall to Beal looked to have potentially sparked the Wizards but Beal was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
This was one of the best plays of the night. Too bad it ended in a technical. #WizMavs pic.twitter.com/Ldqzj9JSsL
— CSN Wizards (@CSNWizards) January 4, 2017
Poor defense from Washington
The Mavericks came into Tuesday’s game averaging just 95.1 points per game. In this game, they scored 113. The Mavs knocked down 17 three-pointers tonight, seven above their season average. The Wizards’ rotations were slow, there was little help defense, and the team looked gassed at times. You’re not going to win many games on the road when that happens.