Mavericks Smash Wizards Off the Jump

 

Dec 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) shoots the ball as Washington Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III (35) defends in the first quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

By Wole Akinso

(@Wole_USS)

Washington, DC— Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks (15-8) smash the Washington Wizards 137-101.  The Wizards were unable to contain Doncic and Irving with the two combining for 46 points. Towards the end of the first half, Irving outscoring the Wizards 9-3, pushing a 59-47 lead to 68-50 going into halftime. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd spoke about Irving’s single-handed run to put the game away early.

“He's one of the best at going on a personal run and I thought he did that at the end.  Then I think that set the tone for everybody to start that third quarter.  We talked about taking care of business and I thought the group did a really good job of focusing on what we had to do tonight.”

Wizards coach Brian Keefe spoke about how that run put the game away.

“I thought they closed the end of the second quarter and that’s what kind of pushed them ahead.  We had cut into the lead and maybe could have gotten 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.”

Irving finished the game with a game-high 25 points.  Doncic added a triple-double— scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists.  The Wizards also had a hard time defending the three.  The Mavericks shot 52.6 percent (20-38) from three.  On the other side of that, the Wizards were 13 of 40 from the three-point line (32.5%). 

There was a bright spot in tonight’s game.  Marvin Bagley III got his first start of the season.  He scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.  The former 2018 second overall pick in the NBA Draft showed why he was highly touted coming out of Duke University.  Bagley ran the floor, finished at the basket, and hit a couple of threes. 

“I try to impact the game with motor,” said Bagley.  He added that he “could do a lot of things on there, but the motor and the energy is what’s important.”

The Wizards (2-18) will get a chance to erase this embarrassing taste, Saturday at Capital One Arena, when they will take on the Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets (11-9).