Wizards Set Bad Franchise Record in Loss to Mavericks

The Washington Wizards have lost again, this time to the Dallas Mavericks.

Jeremy Brener | Dec 6, 2024

Dec 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) passes the ball as Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) defends in the second quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are matching an unfortunate franchise record after falling 137-101 to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night inside Capital One Arena.

The 36-point loss was the 16th straight for the Wizards, which tied a franchise record that was also seen during the 2009-10 and 2023-24 seasons.

Wizards coach Brian Keefe spoke about the loss after the game.

“They made some shots, we made some errors in some of our execution defensively," Keefe said postgame. "Give the credit for making the shots when we did make some mistakes. I thought they closed the end of the second quarter and that would kind of push them ahead. We had cut into the lead and we maybe could have got it to 10 but they made a little bit of a run right there at the end that kind of bled into the second half.”

The Wizards allowed a 15-0 run in the middle of the first quarter that set them behind from the jump. When the Wizards start games poorly, it almost feels like their flat start keeps them on the ground for a while and they need to start games from behind.

Setting the tone and coming out of the gates strong is extremely key, but given the fact that the Wizards had a new starting lineup is part of the reason behind the slow start. For the first time this season, Marvin Bagley III drew the start, and that led to an imbalance of chemistry next to Malcolm Brogdon, Jordan Poole, Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr.

The Wizards will look to snap this long losing streak and avoid breaking the record when they host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets tomorrow. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET inside Capital One Arena.

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Published Dec 6, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.