By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Dallas Mavericks carried their unstoppable offense on the road after obliterating the Washington Wizards, 137-101, in the ongoing NBA regular season on December 6, 2024.
With another lopsided win, the Mavericks recorded their sixth straight dub, while handing the Wizards their 16th consecutive loss that continued their disappointing ‘No Win November’ campaign.
Dallas made sure there would be no slow starts anymore after immediately dictating the pace of the ball game in the first 12 minutes of action.
PJ Washington waxed hot early from the field, backstopped by the collective effort of Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and Klay Thompson that led them to a nine-point advantage heading into the second quarter.
The Mavericks became looser with their offensive sets and started to run-and-gun to counter Washington’s huge front court duo of Jonas Valanciunas and Alex Sarr.
As a result of Dallas’ quicker pace, the visiting squad ballooned their cushion to double digits and were up by 18 points heading into the last two quarters.
Despite Jordan Poole’s early scoring rally in the third that sparked the Wizards, a counterblast from Irving denied their chances of trimming their deficit to just a single digit.
It was then all Dallas in the fourth as even their bench mob out-performed the Wizards’ backups, concluding the fourth-quarter battle with a 35-24 scoring disparity.
The Wizards were able to go toe-to-toe with the Mavericks in the three-point department but it is in the paint where Dallas dominated, tallying a total of 27 free throw attempts and 50 markers in the shaded lane.
Irving led all scorers in the game and made up for his 10-point outing against the Grizzlies, dropping 25 markers built from an efficient 10/16 shooting from the field.
The crafty point guard also stuffed the stat sheets and amassed four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, with only two turnovers committed.
Doncic was also impressive against the Wizards as the Slovenian main gunner registered a triple-double in just 32 minutes of playing time with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 dimes, two interceptions, and a block.
The Mavericks will look to sustain their firepower and extend their winning streak to seven games on December 8, 2024, as they square off against the Toronto Raptors. Meanwhile, the Wizards aim to halt their dry spell on the same date, against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
