Coming off a rough 3-game road trip last week, the Dallas Mavericks (4-3) are back in the AAC to face off against the Washington Wizards (2-4).
The Game At Hand:
The Washington Wizards on Sunday night put up a dogfight against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but fell short in overtime 109-108. Washington is a young ‘run n gun’ team, led by the quick backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.
The Mavs return back to action after a two-day break after playing four games in five days.
Expect a high scoring game tonight as the Mavs and Wizards are ranked amongst the top 5 teams in team scoring this season, averaging 105+ PPG.
Last year, the Mavs won both games in the regular season series against the Wizards.
Three Keys of the Night:
1) Contain John Wall : John Wall is an important asset in what makes the Wizards offense ranked #4 in team assists in the NBA. In all road games this season, John Wall averages 18.3 points and 9.2 assists. Wall also has a 2 to 1 turnover/assists ratio. The Mavs on defense have to be aggressive against Wall, forcing him to create turnovers and limit his penetration to the basket.
2) Maintaining the Lead: In the previous game against the Bucks, the Mavs cruised to halftime with a comfortable 15 point lead. The Bucks trimmed their deficit to just 4 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. Dallas tonight should make sure that Washington does not gain any momentum if the Mavs happen to jump out to a big lead.
3) Bench Production: The Mavs’ bench is ranked first in points per game this season with 41.5 games. The production from the bench has been amazing so far. Guys like Jae Crowder, Gal Mekel, and Dejuan Blair can make a huge impact in a game with the limited minutes that they have. Except those bench players to make a lot of noise tonight versus the Wizards tonight.
Matchup of the Night: Bradley Beal vs. Monta Ellis
The matchup of Bradley Beal facing off against Monta Ellis should be interesting to watch. Beal was drafted as the 3rd overall pick by the Wizards last year. The young 6’5 shooting guard currently averages about 21 points per game and shooting just over 41% from the field.
Monta Ellis is having a phenomenal season so far as a new addition to the Dallas Mavericks. Ellis is averaging 23 points per game, which ranks him 10th amongst the top scoring leaders in the league.
Quotes:
“You know, Wall and Beal are both terrific athletes. Wall I think is probably as fast as anybody in this league, and he’s probably as fast as anybody I’ve ever seen in this league. And so getting in front of him with a crowd of people to get him to slow down is really important.” – Rick Carlisle
“We’re just trying to be a top-five team in all the categories, so we’re working hard towards that. We still have a couple more things to figure out, but it’s all going to come.” – DeJuan Blair
You must be logged in to post a comment Login
You must log in to post a comment.