Wizards hold off Mavericks as Porter, Wall enjoy big nights
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Version 0 of 1. DALLAS — On a night when the Wizards learned that another right fibula injury will likely sideline leading scorer Bradley Beal for the remainder of 2015, Washington proved it is capable of beating quality teams on the road without him, but not without some drama. The Wizards took an 18-point lead into the fourth quarter, led by 12 with less than two minutes to play but could only exhale with a 114-111 victory when the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki missed an off-balance three-pointer as time expired Saturday at American Airlines Center. Up one point at halftime, the Wizards (10-12) blasted the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 39-22. But the Wizards nosedived in the fourth quarter, shooting 6 of 22 in the period, and the Mavericks (13-11) roared back, cutting the deficit to one with 4.4 seconds remaining before John Wall sank a pair of free throws and Nowitzki missed at the buzzer. The win snapped the Wizards’ 11-game losing streak against the Mavericks and was their first over Dallas came Oct. 27, 2009, when Wall was a freshman at Kentucky. [Wizards’ Beal to miss at least two weeks with another right fibula injury] “These guys have great heart and guts,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said. “To have all the injuries that we’ve had, nobody’s hung their heads. We had guys step up.” Otto Porter Jr. scored 17 of his career-high 28 points in the third quarter as Washington made him a focal part of the game plan knowing that the aging Nowitzki was going to defend him most of the night. He entered Saturday shooting 26 percent from three-point range but finished 4 of 8. “Teammates were just able to find me,” Porter said. “A lot pick and rolls, spreading the floor, and I knocked down shots.” Wall tallied 26 points and 16 assists for his fourth straight game with at least 26 points and seven assists. Marcin Gortat added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Ramon Sessions contributed 17 points off the bench. Wesley Matthews had a team-high 28 points for the Mavericks, who shot 14 of 33 (42.4 percent) from three-point range and didn’t have Deron Williams available due to illness. In addition to Beal, the Wizards were without Alan Anderson (ankle), Nene (calf) and Drew Gooden III (calf) for the second of their four-game, six-day road trip. Kris Humphries was available after missing four of Washington’s previous five games with a sprained ankle but didn’t play. “It just shows you what we’re capable of doing offensively when we play at a high level,” said Wizards forward Jared Dudley, who played a significant role in holding Nowitzki to three field goals and 13 points. “Defensively, it’s been a roller coaster. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t.” Beal was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower right fibula and will miss the next two weeks before being reevaluated. The diagnosis, which the Wizards labeled “the beginnings of a stress reaction,” was determined less than 24 hours after Beal was a late scratch for the Wizards’ loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. He underwent an MRI exam Friday and further testing Saturday. The development is the latest in a troubling trend of injuries to Beal’s right fibula, a small, non-weight bearing bone. The No. 3 pick in the 2012 draft, Beal, 22, has confronted variations of right fibula injuries each of his four NBA seasons. “I try to stay as positive as possible and I still am,” Beal said. “It was disappointing to hear officially, but it’s a piece of mind at the same time, not always wondering, ‘Okay, is this really back again?’ And it is.” Beal said he first felt soreness in his right leg return “a week or two ago.” He thought it was simply “general calf tightness” and received various treatments in an attempt to alleviate the discomfort, but nothing worked. Beal played through leg soreness his rookie year before he was shut down for Washington’s final eight games with stress injury in his distal right fibula, located in the lower leg. He didn’t resume on-court activities for three months. Beal missed nine contests – and about three weeks – the following season with an injury to his proximal right fibula, which is higher up in the bone. The sore spot moved back down the bone last season, when he missed eight games with a “mild” stress reaction, an absence that spanned three weeks. Beal said his current injury is the same as the one he had last year. Based on that timetable, Beal will be sidelined at least until Jan. 1, when Washington faces the Orlando Magic. He would miss 10 games. “I can’t worry about it,” Beal said. “If I do, it ruins me as a player. It ruins my confidence. It kind of makes an excuse for me, and I don’t want to live with myself in that category. I’m a basketball player, and if I get injured, I get injured. I never go into a season thinking, ‘Okay, it’s going to continue to happen.’ And I’m not worried about it for the rest of my career either.” The setback comes six weeks after he and the Wizards agreed to table contract discussions until next summer, when he becomes a restricted free agent. Washington offered Beal a contract extension before the Nov. 3 midnight deadline for first-round picks on the final years of their rookie deals, but Beal sought a maximum contract, which would’ve paid him a projected $20.9 million over four seasons. [Nov. 2: Wizards, Beal won’t agree to contract extension before deadline, and that’s by design] The Wizards, however, want as much salary cap space as possible, and not signing Beal to the extension gives them nearly $7 million more to sign free agents because his cap hold will be $14 million instead of $20.9 million. As a result, they elected to wait. Though Beal’s recurring injuries are a concern, he the chances of attracting a max pact are high given his skill set, age and influx of television money that will infiltrate the free agent market. “I’m still going to come back from this,” Beal said. “I’m not going to let this just keep me down or worry me too much. I’m still confident in who I am and the type of player I am. And the GM and the rest of the organization knows what I’m capable of doing, too. So hopefully they won’t use this against me come next summer.” Beal missed three games earlier this season with a left shoulder injury after averaging 22.7 points through six contests. His numbers dipped after returning, but he still leads the Wizards in scoring at 19.9 points per game and is shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range. He averaged 39.7 minutes over his last seven games. Garrett Temple started in Beal’s place Friday and Saturday as Washington improved to 3-2 without him Saturday. It wasn’t perfect – the Wizards’ three-point defense was troublesome again and they nearly blew a 21-point lead in a heartbeat – but they’ll take it. “This was a good, gutty performance by our guys,” Wittman said. “I’m really proud of them.” |