Washington Wizards: 3 Takeaways From Loss To Mavericks

After five road games in seven days, the Washington Wizards returned home. Unfortunately, they were unable to get the victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Washington Wizards lost to the Dallas Mavericks 112-107 on Mar. 15. It was high scoring affair early in the first quarter with both teams scoring over 30 points.

The Wizards lost despite jumping out to an early lead. Their inability to hold a lead — particularly in the fourth quarter, where they were outscored 39-27 and committed 12 turnovers — showed that they still have work to do as a unit before the playoffs arrive.

There was also a scare for the Washington Wizards when John Wall went down in the second quarter with a sprained left foot. But Wall returned in the second half, finishing with 26 points, 11 assists and three steals.

The Mavericks were without sharpshooter Wes Matthews, who was out with a calf strain. However, Dallas didn’t miss Matthews too much.

Seth Curry scored 19 points, big man Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and forward Harrison Barnes scored 22 points. Barnes shot 10-for-16 from the floor.

The Mavericks bench chipped in a total of 40 points as well. Center Nerlens Noel had 12 points, three rebounds, an assist and a block in 22 minutes after returning from right knee injury. It was the team’s seventh win in their last 10 games.

On the the Wizards side of things, they have allowed over 100 points in their last eight contests. They allowed less than 100 points against the Toronto Raptors back on March 1. But since then, they’ve struggled mightily on defense.

Here’s a look at three takeaways from their loss to the Mavericks.