Dallas Mavericks: Wesley Matthews Ends Shooting Slump

Wesley Matthews was frustrated after the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Rockets last week, but that frustration is all gone after a career night in Washington.

The Dallas Mavericks signed Wesley Matthews to a four-year, $70 million max deal this past summer. He was orginally only supposed to get about $57 million, but the Mavs increased his offer after they lost out on DeAndre Jordan.

Matthews was coming off of a torn Achilles, so the deal was obviously a risky one. However, his recovery was nothing less than spectacular as he was ready to go on opening night, roughly seven months after sustaining the injury.

Part of the reason why he was back on time was because of the Mavs’ incredible training staff, but it was mostly due to Matthews’ passionate work ethic, which is the reason why he has the nickname “Iron Man.”

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He started the 2015-16 season on limited minutes and has progressively worked his way back to full strength, but it hasn’t always been easy. Matthews’ game has been inconsistent so far this season. He’s had 11 double-digit scoring nights and eight single-digit scoring nights. Some of his worst nights have featured 0-for-5, 1-for-9 and even 2-for-11 shooting.

That has caused his numbers to take a slight hit. His points per game average is down by three points and his three-point shooting average is down by eight percent compared to last season.

After a 100-96 loss to the Houston Rockets last week, which included only five points from Matthews, he was not afraid to voice his frustration and explained his struggles, saying that he didn’t want to hurt the team anymore.

The bold statement seemed to light a fire in him and he exploded with a career game against the Washington Wizards last night. Matthews’ 36 points, six rebounds and five assists led the team to a 116-104 victory, but he also achieved a few noteworthy accomplishments in the process.

He tied his career-high of 36 points and he managed to hit 10 three-pointers, which tied the Mavs franchise recored for threes in a game set by George McLeod in 1995. A night like this was just the thing that Matthews needed to find some consistency in his game. The only other time he’s scored over 20 points this season was on Nov. 11 against the Clippers, when he had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

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The Mavs’ offense has had some trouble this season and in most games where they have struggled, Matthews has also struggled, meaning it’s important for him to make sure he fine-tunes the parts of his game that need work.

With all of this being said, we have to cut him a little slack. He did recover from a torn Achilles and has definitely overachieved so far this season. Some players — Kobe Bryant, for example — have suffered from Achilles injuries and never returned to their previous form. Granted, Bryant was about seven years older than Matthews when he got hurt, but it still shows just how hard it is to come back from an injury.

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It’s understandable that Matthews has been frustrated with his game, and he has reason to be, but he is still working to get better. His big game in Washington erased some doubts and could set the tone for his future.