Hobbled Doncic Not Enough in Mavs' 120-114 Loss to Wizards

Coming off a big road win, Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and the Dallas Mavericks couldn't keep the winning ways alive in a 120-114 loss.

Coming off the high of a thrilling overtime road win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks looked to extend those good vibes at home against Bradley Beal and the much-improved Washington Wizards. That wasn't in the cards for the Mavs on this night, though, as they lost a close one to the Wizards by the final score of 120-114.

“It was a shootout,” coach Jason Kidd said, “and, if you’re going to be in a shootout, you have to make shots. We just didn’t make them at the right time and they did.”

Although Dallas had four days off, and Washington was playing in its third game in four nights without one of their best players in Spencer Dinwiddie, the Wizards were still able to match the Mavs' energy throughout the entirety of the game. Daniel Gafford, specifically, was the difference in this one, as he tallied 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field to go with 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in just 27 minutes. The Dallas big men couldn't do anything with Gafford and were unable to match his energy.

Despite being hobbled for most of the night, Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting from the field. Doncic also dished out 10 assists, despite having some sloppy pass attempts in there throughout the night as well that resulted in untimely turnovers.

Kristaps Porzingis, who had come into this game playing arguably his best basketball since joining the Mavericks, started this game off well, playing good defense and scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first half. Unfortunately for Dallas, that didn't carry over to the second half, as KP finished with just 13 points total while missing all six of his shot attempts through the rest of the game. If anyone earned an off-game lately, it's Porzingis. Hopefully he, as well as Tim Hardaway Jr. who also struggled, can get back on track soon.

One bright spot for the Mavs was the performance of Trey Burke off the bench in Jalen Brunson's absence. Burke led the Dallas bench and was the Mavs' second-leading scorer with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and four assists. He was a plus-five in the boxscore plus-minus in 11 minutes played.

“My teammates trust me and know what I can do,” Burke said. “They see me show up every day putting extra work in. I think a little bit of it is trust from them and trust in myself. In this league, you I pride myself in just staying ready.”

The Mavs will now finish out the month of November with another home game on Monday night against a gritty Cleveland Cavaliers team before opening up December with a home-and-home mini-series against the New Orleans Pelicans.