Wizards vs. Mavericks final score: Washington blown out despite Russell Westbrook’s 26 points in 109-87 loss

Things are getting rough for the Washington Wizards (17-31). They lost at home to the Dallas Mavericks (27-21) on Saturday night. It’s their third consecutive loss overall.

Things were already looking pretty shaky in the first quarter with the Wizards behind 24-19 after the first quarter and turning the ball over four times for five points. Turnovers continued to plague Washington as they would give a turnover or two more than Dallas in each subsequent period, while Dallas took care of the basketball They only committed seven tonight. It’s hard to get easy scoring opportunities when a team can’t force turnovers.

I’m exasperated with the broken record of Wizards losses and how they get there, so I’m not going to expend my energy with a diatribe.

Russell Westbrook saw his triple-double streak end with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, but he had another four turnovers.

But among Washington’s players, I was also happy with Robin Lopez’s performance where he scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

He also had a nice block right here in the third quarter:

Brooks was able to play more in part due to Rui Hachimura missing the game due to a shoulder injury and Davis Bertans (11 points) was able to start.

And I didn’t forget to add this. Bradley Beal remained out due to a hip injury. Washington can’t get him back soon enough...

But ultimately, this was not enough even though Washington was able to keep the deficit within double digits to finish the third quarter. But things fell apart in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks were able to impose their will.

As you might have expected, Luka Doncic was Dallas’ top performer with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Jalen Brunson also added 19 points and Tim Hardaway added 16 more.

Washington will now begin a six-game cross-country road trip for the next week and a half. Their first game will be on Monday against the exiled Toronto Raptors on Monday in their temporary home of Tampa. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET.

I can’t blame you for preferring to watch the Division I NCAA men’s basketball championship game which will also be Monday, but let’s at least root for the Wizards before that game, which begins at around 9:20 p.m. ET. It should begin a little after the Wizards finish playing Monday night, win or lose.

See you then.