Mavericks Begin 2017 Against Washington Wizards

Let’s just say 2016 (top moments of 2016) wasn’t the greatest start to a season for the Dallas Mavericks. In their first 34 games, the Mavericks managed to go 10-24 with 19 of those games on the road. On Tuesday night, Dallas will begin a three-game homestand that concludes Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks. In the month of January, the Mavericks will play eight of their 14 games at the American Airlines Center. 

 

If the Mavericks hope to get off to a fast start here in 2017, it will begin with slowing down John wall and the Washington Wizards. Wall is averaging 23.6 points and leads the league in steals (2.3 spg). This will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Wizards, who fell to the Houston Rockets 101-91 on Monday night. The Wizards (16-17) are currently 1-5 on the second night of a back-to-back. 

 

Even though the Mavericks come into the game with a league-low 95.1 points per game, the Wizards continue to play down to competition. Just like Dallas, Washington has a bad habit of squandering leads to the lesser opponent. 

 

Matchup To Watch

 

This will be a fun one: Harrison Barnes vs. Otto Porter. 

 

After many criticized Barnes towards the beginning of the season, he has stepped up for the Mavericks as the team has been riddled with injuries. Averaging a career high 20.4 points per game, Barnes continues to carry most the load for the Mavericks. Although Porter is mostly a scoring threat, it will be interesting to see if Barnes can utilize his scoring with his defense to help lead the Mavericks to their first victory of the New Year. 

 

Deciding Factor

 

Wesley Matthews. 

 

Matthews has to be excited to Play the Wizards on Tuesday night due to their inability to guard good players on the three-point line. If Matthews catches fire, expect him to shoot around 15 three-pointers making eight (my prediction).

 

Injury Report

 

MAVERICKS

J.J. Barea – Out (Achilles)

Deron Williams – Questionable (Illness)

 

WIZARDS

Ian Mahinmi – Out (Knee)

Danuel House – Out (Wrist)

 

How To Watch

 

Catch the game on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CST or listen locally on 103.3 ESPN Dallas.