Still deprived of Bradley Beal (Covid-19), but also orphans of Kristaps Porzingis (groin), the Wizards were receiving Mavericks in back to back to try to put an end to their negative spiral (five defeats in seven games) and find a balanced balance sheet.
A successful mission because, despite the absence of its two leaders, the franchise of the capital managed to surprise (113-105) the teammates of Luka Doncic (22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists).
For his return to Washington, Spencer Dinwiddie (33 points, 6 assists) outdid himself and delivered his best performance of the season but, like his entire team, he fell on a bone, named Kyle Kuzma (36 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists), even more inspired to inflict Dallas a second loss in a row.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Kyle Kuzma answered present. Without Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, “Kuz” behaved like the boss he should be. Aggressive with the ball, successful in shooting (14/26, including 5/11 at 3-pts), regular and capital in all areas of the game, he put the Mavericks defense through an ordeal. Proving that, when he is on a good night and in confidence, the former Lakers player can be little more than a simple third option, condemned to remain in the shadow of his usual leaders and wait for them to force the decision. In any case, we had the demonstration of this last night…
— Another defeat that is a task for Dallas. Two weeks ago, the Mavs lost to the Thunder by squandering a 16-point (!) lead in the final four minutes. They then rebounded with four straight wins, but now they are on a two-game losing streak. And, without reassuring against two weakened opponents: the Magic without Paolo Banchero, then the Wizards without the Beal / Porzingis duo. Caught up by their sufficiency, when they had made a great start (22-8), Jason Kidd’s players suffered a new disappointment on the move, which they will quickly have to forget at home…
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Spencer Dinwiddie. The only Mavs player to survive in this collective slump, even if it is also necessary to underline the few good passages of Dwight Powell or Tim Hardaway Jr, the former leader of the Wizards obviously had accounts to settle with his former team. Inspired in attack from the start of the game, he was clearly the Texans’ strongman tonight, the day after his 29 points in Orlando. A good omen for the future, if the rest of his teammates (and in particular Luka Doncic) manage to recover quickly.
✅ Rui Hachimura. More than Deni Avdija, the other nugget of Washington very prominent today, especially defensively, the Japanese has to say the least dynamited the Texas defense coming off the bench. Author of 23 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes, he therefore made a strong impression, so as to sign his best outing of the season, showing himself especially in his best light in the second and third quarters. At the heart of his fourth year in the league, the 9th choice of the 2019 Draft is just waiting to explode in the eyes of all and this kind of performance should already help him to strengthen his minutes in the eyes of his coach…
⛔ Luka Doncic. Rather than dwelling on the failed matches of Maxi Kleber, JaVale McGee or Josh Green, we prefer to evoke the new missed performance and full of waste from the Slovenian (8/21 on shots, 3/8 at 3-pts, 3/ 9 throws and 5 lost balls…). Author of a back to back complicated, to say the least, this time he had a hard time getting rid of Deni Avdija, one of his appointed bodyguards. And when “Luka Magic” coughs, it’s the whole Mavs game that coughs with him…
⛔ Will Barton. If the Wizards winger was able to blacken the stats sheet (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), we will not forget that he sometimes groped in attack and multiplied the risky choices, in shooting for example ( 4/12), in addition to taking a few gusts in defense. In line with his start to the season, finally. Because, even if for the moment Wes Unseld Jr. maintains his confidence in him as leader of his bench, he could end up seeing his playing time decrease, to make the happiness of Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert and others Jordan Goodwin or Johnny Davis.
THE FOLLOWING
Washington (6-6) : reception of Utah, on the night of Saturday to Sunday (00:00).
Dallas (6-5) : Portland reception, on the night of Saturday to Sunday (02:30).
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