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The 2019-20 Wizards are built on a few core principles that include relentless energy and hard-nosed defense. It showed in Wednesday night’s opener in Dallas as Washington weathered a lengthy 3-point drought and large deficits before battling back into the game in the fourth quarter. Still, Luka Doncic’s 34 points (nine rebounds) led the Mavericks to a 108-100 season-opening victory on their home floor.
Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura (14 points, 10 rebounds) looked comfortable early in his regular-season debut, while Bradley Beal did a little of everything, tallying 19 points to go with nine assists and six rebounds. Unfortunately, the 3-point struggles hit Beal the most, as he hit just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc (the team shot 11-for-41, just under 27%).
Washington took a 25-24 lead into the second quarter, but an 11-0 Mavericks run early in the second frame set the game on a different course. The Wizards trailed by as many as 23 points on the night as Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis (23 points in his Dallas debut), and a productive Mavericks bench took control in front of a sellout crowd at American Airlines Center.
“We were moving the ball and we were defending," said Bradley Beal. "I think that stopped late in the first quarter and early in the second, when we stopped moving the ball and we stopped defending. I think you can see that our shots and our non-execution on offense carried over to the defensive end. Those are just little habits that we have to nip in the bud early. That was the difference maker though, that run late in the first and early in the second.”
Still, the Wizards’ fighting spirit was never extinguished Wednesday. Moe Wagner caught fire in the final frame, hitting three 3-pointers to help score 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. That sparked a Wizards comeback that narrowed the deficit to just seven points with 1:19 remaining, but time wasn’t on Washington’s side down the stretch.
The lack of 3-point consistency was the Wizards’ biggest hurdle, as they won most of the battles in the hustle department. They out-rebounded Dallas 47-46 (11-5 OREB) and claimed advantages in fast break points (20-14) and second-chance points (19-12). In a season of building and growth, there were certainly blocks to start with as the season gets underway.
"We fought, we competed, and that’s what we want," said head coach Scott Brooks. "We want to make sure every game we leave everything on the floor. We could have played a little better, a little smarter, but those are things that are all correctable, we have a lot of guys that have never been in this position, we’ll learn a little bit tomorrow in the film."
Washington’s road trip continues Friday night in Oklahoma City, where they’ll take on the Thunder at 8:00 P.M. ET (NBCSW).