Recap: Wizards drop 4th straight in 130-117 loss to Mavericks

The Wiz have now lost 8 of their last 9.

The losing woes continued for the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at Capitol One Arena. The home team lost 130-117 against the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

There were eight lead changes in this game. All eight of them came within the first 2:22 of the contest as the two teams jockeyed for an early edge.

But a three-pointer from Luka Doncic at the 9:38 mark of the first gave the Mavs a 10-9 lead they would never relinquish. Doncic’s triple was the start of what turned into a 34-17 run to close out the first quarter.

The Wizards spread the wealth in terms of scoring in the first half with five different players scoring at least 7 points. Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole led the way with 9 points apiece. Washington shot much worse (39.5%) from the field than the Mavs (52.1%). The Wiz trailed 71-51 at the half.

Washington never really got any momentum for a comeback in the second half. The closest they got was a personal 5-0 Kuzma run to start the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to 16. But the deficit hovered around 20 for most of the second half.

Bilal Coulibaly poured in 7 of his 10 points in garbage time to help trim the margin of defeat to a more respectable 13 points.

Kuzma led the Wiz in scoring with 22 points. He was one of eight different players in double figures for Washington. But in a game without much defense being played, the Wizards couldn’t keep up with the Mavs’ offense.

Renzo’s Redeeming Moment of the Game

In a season filled with losses, I try to find a silver lining in each game.

B Cool provided my personal favorite moment of the game when he blocked Doncic on a step-back three. Doncic specifically hunted the rookie by forcing a switch. But the Frenchman was up to the task.

The Wizards will try to break their losing spell Friday when they host the New York Knicks at 7 p.m.