Klay Thompson, Mavericks Dominate Wizards With Prolific Shooting Display: “A Game to Build On”
The Dallas Mavericks (25-22) showcased their deep shooting arsenal in a commanding 130-108 victory over the Washington Wizards (6-39) on Monday night at the American Airlines Center, delivering a strong performance as they gear up for an upcoming five-game road trip.
Leading by as many as 38, the Mavs never trailed after being sparked by Klay Thompson, scoring 21 of his 23 points in the first quarter, using seven made threes. Tying Dončić’s franchise record for made three-pointers in a quarter, Thompson set the tone early for Dallas while adding four assists and three rebounds on the night.
“You do something like that, it reminds you that there’s greatness still within you,” Thompson said. “I love to use this quote: ‘Be at your best when your best is needed,’ and I know I have another level to reach, and we have so much basketball ahead of us. The one thing I learned is you can’t force those great nights. You have to let them happen.”
Despite missing key players like Luka Dončić (strained left calf), Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), Maxi Kleber (fractured right foot), Naji Marshall (illness), Dwight Powell (right hip strain), and Danté Exum (right wrist surgery), the Mavericks’ roster depth shone brightly against a rebuilding team.
In addition to Thompson as the headlining performance, Olivier-Maxence Prosper tied his career high with 20 points while shooting 7 of 11 overall with a pair of made threes. P.J. Washington added 19 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Daniel Gafford set the tone amid many center injuries with 18 points, eight rebounds, and an impressive five blocks. His presence in the paint was formidable. He shot an efficient 8 of 13 from the field and anchored the team’s interior defense.
Other solid performances included Kyrie Irving‘s 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists. His ability to orchestrate the offense and create shots for himself and others was crucial. Spencer Dinwiddie played like a pass-first point guard, dishing out nine assists and adding six points while only shooting three times. Quentin Grimes added a spark off the bench with 12 points. He used his shooting touch to go 4 of 5 from the field, including making all three attempts from three-point range.
Overall, Dallas was highly efficient and unselfish, assisting on 39 of 49 made shots while shooting 53.3% overall. Dallas made 20 shots from beyond the arc while converting at a 44.4% clip. The Mavericks rounded out their night by recording more offensive rebounds (13) than turnovers (12).
“It’s something we have to do to be successful, you know, with our best players out,” Thompson said about the Mavericks’ ball movement. “We rely on Kyrie so much, as we should, because he’s one of the greatest ISO scorers in the history of the game. But it’s on the rest of us to make it easier for him. And it’ll just be that much better and we’ll have that much more confidence with Luka and Kai in the lineup again together. So it’s something we can build off and try and emulate that in New Orleans because they’re a good defensive team.”
The Wizards struggled to keep pace with Dallas’ relentless attack. Led by Bilal Coulibaly with 16 points, four rebounds, and five assists, while Jordan Poole added 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists, Washington didn’t have enough firepower to keep pace. The Mavericks’ efficient shooting, particularly from beyond the arc, where they tied their season high for three-pointers made, improved to 6-0 when scoring at least 130 points this season.
Dallas Mavericks Start Strong, Washington Wizards Overwhelmed Early
The game started with the Mavericks asserting their dominance right from tip-off. Thompson set the tone early, opening the scoring from beyond the arc. His hot hand was instrumental in Dallas’ commanding 13-2 lead early in the first quarter, and the team never looked back. After shooting 16 of 26 (61.5%) from the floor and 9 of 13 (69.2%) from deep in the first quarter without turning the ball over, the Mavericks built a 42-16 lead.
“I think it’s something that was done early,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. “We set screens, and we ran stuff for him. He responded in a positive way. Klay is very unselfish and so, again, he got going. I thought Spencer did a great job of finding him and I thought the others did too. Being able to DHO or find him on the wing, on the offensive rebounds. They made a conscious effort to get Klay going early, and he responded in a positive way. It just made the game easier for everybody else.”
Thompson credited Maverick assistant coach Jared Dudley for helping to ignite that early spark in his performance. After averaging just 16 times across his previous three performances—including taking four shots against the reigning champion Boston Celtics—Thompson was much more aggressive. As Dallas pushed the ball, there was patience in the half-court to work the ball to him.
“I think there’s emphasis from Coach Dudley for me to be more aggressive,” Thompson said. “It just happened to be one of those nights where I had an excellent first quarter and felt great. Always feels great when you shoot the ball well. […] Jared was saying just find him in transition or find him for an away screen and not necessarily just to shoot it every time, but just to get some motion, getting a better rhythm.”
It was far from just simply running actions for Thompson. The first result was that he shot it after Gafford got the ball on a short roll, finding him after the Wizards briefly helped off the strong side corner. Thompson didn’t hesitate to shoot on the catch. There was even a middle pindown where he didn’t have space on the catch but dribbled to his left to fake a handoff before pulling up. He also created a shot for himself by attacking the paint, then flaring out to the corner after spraying the ball out and letting it fly on the catch. In addition to a throw-ahead in transition, the Mavericks used a few handoffs—one from Irving and another from Kessler Edwards—to get the ball to Thompson going to his left to shoot.
As the first half played out, the Wizards became intent on not giving Thompson any space to shoot. He used this to create shots for his teammates, including coming off a wide stagger before flipping a spray-out pass to the screener (Prosper) for a corner three. He also found Washington, who slipped a screen as Thompson was blitzed, creating a wide-open dunk. After an inverted ball screen for Washington, Thompson drove by Alex Sarr before using a no-look pass to deceive the low defender before making a dropoff pass to Washington in the dunker spot for a finish.
The Mavericks succeeded when deploying Washington as a small ball center, with athletic wings like Edwards and Prosper alongside him to fly around defensively and aggressively crash the boards. Washington is often considered an option to fill a small ball center role and has done it plenty, including during his time with the Charlotte Hornets. It’s a lineup Dallas is likely to continue to use this lineup going forward.
“With PJ at the five, we can switch everything, which gives a different dynamic to the game,” Prosper said. “Teams have to adjust because they’re not used to dealing with wings who can guard everyone. It’s good to see the success we had with it, and with injuries, you’ll probably see this lineup more often. We feel confident with our size and ability to guard both guards and bigs.”
By halftime, the score was 73-43 as the Mavericks’ offensive assault continued. Thompson already totaled 23 points and dished three assists through the end of the second quarter, while Washington scored 15, Prosper already scored 11, and Gafford chipped in nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Dallas overwhelmed the rebuilding Wizards early despite missing many key players.
“It felt great because we needed a win where we put a team away early. […]” Thompson said. “It’s been a while since we had one. So it was nice to kind of do that collectively.”
Maintaining Control and Building for the Future
After building their largest first-half lead of the season, the Mavericks had already clinched a victory. Even as the Wizards closed the third quarter with a 13-5 run, the Mavericks still led 101-76 entering the final frame. Dallas continued to play hard defensively and on the glass, and the team is eager to keep that going.
“We need to take all the great things from today in terms of our habits, playing, sharing the ball, rebounding, defending at high levels, staying disciplined, and knowing that we got all the pieces,” Prosper said. “Even though we’re hit with the injury bug, it’s the next man up mentality. If we stay focused on the little details and make the right plays offensively, we can beat any team on that road trip.”
Despite missing Lively, Kleber, and Powell, the Mavericks only had to play Gafford for 24 minutes because of how significant the lead was. Gafford only logged under nine minutes after halftime as Dallas toggled between giving some run to Markieff Morris and two-way contract signee Kylor Kelley at the five.
Irving, who continues to manage a bulging disc injury, played the whole third quarter before getting the final frame to rest. Getting Irving as much reduction in workload as possible helps, considering Dončić remains sidelined until what could be a Feb. 8 return against the Houston Rockets.
The second half saw a continued effort from the deep bench, with reserves like Brandon Williams and Kelley playing the bulk of the fourth quarter.
Looking Ahead
With this win, the Mavericks look to carry their momentum into the upcoming five-game road trip, starting against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“It was a blowout, so we’ll get tested in New Orleans,” Kidd said.
After facing the Pelicans, the Mavericks will face four Eastern Conference opponents: the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics.
