WASHINGTON — Coming here to read about a playoff-important, reunion-motivated win over trade-departed Kristaps Porzingis and the Wizards — the result many expected from the Mavericks on Friday in Capital One Arena?
Wait until at least next season.
Instead, we’ll cover all that went haywire in Dallas’ 135-103 loss to Washington on Friday night.
Luka Doncic’s 36 points, seven rebounds and six assists aside, the Mavericks allowed 41 points in the first quarter to fall down double digits 10 minutes in, shot 28.9% from 3 and became so frustrated in the fourth quarter that coach Jason Kidd received a double-technical ejection midway through the fourth quarter.
A friendly, competitive reunion with Porzingis (24 points, nine rebounds) for the first time since first-year general manager Nico Harrison traded the 26-year-old center — max contract, injury concerns and all — to Washington for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans? Try a 48-minute slog to generate more questions about playoff standing instead.
The loss to the Wizards, who were mathematically eliminated from play-in postseason contention Thursday, halted the Mavericks’ recent rise up the Western Conference seedings.
Dallas (48-30) fell a half-game behind Golden State (48-29) for the No. 3 seed and are just 1.5 games ahead of No. 5 Utah in the home-court advantage cutoff. The Warriors and Jazz face off Saturday night.
Now the Mavericks must turn from this three-games-in-four-days stretch to prepare for their toughest remaining opponent, an early Sunday afternoon contest against two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks.
Doncic and Porzingis had never played against one another in the NBA, but their lone head-to-head matchup as professionals — a Slovenia win over Latvia in the 2017 EuroBasket quarterfinals in which the two combined for 61 points and each shot above 50% — made Friday’s clash appear primed for fireworks.
But Dallas turned in a dud.
Porzingis scored eight of Washington’s first 19 points, posting up a few times against Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber, and helped set an aggressive offensive tempo that befuddled Dallas’ defense throughout.
Ironically, Powell and Kleber were the only two current Mavericks on the last iteration of the Mavericks that had to game-plan against Porzingis for a Jan. 7, 2018 contest against the Knicks in which Porzingis dropped 29 points and eight rebounds.
But, this Mavericks roster had ample experience facing Porzingis in practice over the last three years.
The familiarity didn’t serve as a boost.
After facing a 67-53 halftime deficit, the Mavericks trailed by as many as 26 points in the third quarter. They appeared ready to rally with a 16-3 run late in the period, but the Wizards responded with 41 points in the fourth.
While the connections with Porzingis garnered the most attention — and yes, he and Doncic hugged and chatted during a break in first-quarter play, Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans returned to their former stomping grounds, too.
Since their trade deadline arrival in Dallas, the two haven’t shied from expressing displeasure with their fit in Washington — Dinwiddie upset with his portrayal as a difficult teammate and Bertans lamenting his inconsistent opportunities in the rotation.
An extra edge to perform well Friday, no doubt.
But, Dinwiddie finished with eight points, two rebounds and one assist in 24 minutes while shooting 2 of 6 from the floor and 0 of 3 from 3. Bertans missed his lone shot attempt in 10 minutes.
Dinwiddie drew a technical foul in frustration with what he perceived to be a missed foul call midway through the fourth quarter. Twelve seconds later, Kidd got two for arguing and entered the locker room about eight minutes before his players.
Much has changed about the Mavericks since their late November loss to the Wizards.
Roster makeup, playoff outlook and comfortability with Kidd’s new systems, to name a few.
But, the on-court result appeared the same more than four months after that seven-point defeat in Dallas and seven weeks after their surprise Porzingis trade.
The Wizards out-shot, out-rebounded and out-hustled the Mavericks, again, to spoil another 30-point Doncic performance.
