After a four-day period this past week when they played three of the four teams they met in last year’s playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks will
finally catch a break of sorts on Monday when they host a Washington Wizards’ team that has the worst record in the NBA.
The Mavs lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves (115-114) Wednesday, traveled to Oklahoma City and defeated the Thunder (121-115) Thursday. And on Saturday, the Boston Celtics beat the Mavs (122-107).
Last year the Mavs spanked the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, defeated the Thunder in the conference semifinals and lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
OKC currently has the best record in the Western Conference and the Celtics have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Thus, to go from playing two of the league’s best teams in a three-day span to playing a Washington team going nowhere fast is just what the doctor ordered for a Mavs team that is dealing with more than their fair share of injuries.
Mavs point guard Luka Dončić will have his strained left calf re-evaluated on Monday to determine how close he is to returning to action. Also on the 
mend for the Mavs are Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), Naji Marshall (illness), Dwight Powell (right hip strain), Maxi Kleber (fractured right foot) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery).
The injuries have forced the Mavs to spend a lot of time juggling various starting lineups, much to their chagrin.
“We know we’ve got to continue to get better and continue to adjust to what our lineups are going to be,” guard Kyrie Irving said. “But playing against the two top teams in the league back-to-back is a good learning experience.”
The Mavs are coming off a game where they were 8-of-22 from three-point range against Boston, while the Celtics attempted a whopping 52 shots from downtown and converted 20 of them.
“We got to the (three-point) line and they covered it pretty well and they kept running us off the line, and they wanted the basketball to find a few players out there on the perimeter and we just weren’t as active behind the three-point line,” Irving said. “And when you’re going against a team like this where the numbers are a big difference, it’s going to show up.
“For us, we just got to look in the mirror and see how we can get better after this, because going against the best of the best you have nothing to take but lessons from both of those games.”
Here are some other nuggets surrounding Monday’s game between the Mavs and Wizards.
*Monday’s game against Washington is the finale of a brief two-game home stand for the Mavs before they head out on a season-high five-game road trip that starts Wednesday in New Orleans. 
The Mavs also play Friday in Detroit, Sunday in Cleveland, Feb. 4 in Philadelphia and Feb. 6 in Boston before returning home to host Houston on Feb. 8. The Mavs are 2-3 in their last five games and last played on Saturday at home when they lost their NBA Finals rematch to the Celtics, 122-107.
*The Wizards will limp into Dallas losers in their last 13 games and owners of the NBA’s worst record. As 10 of those 13 losses were by 10 or more points, the closest the Wizards came to beating anyone in that stretch occurred during the 109-103 loss at Philadelphia on Jan. 8. This is the final game of a six-game trip for the Wizards. Earlier this season the Wizards authored a 16-game losing streak which stretched from Nov. 2-Dec. 5.
*In desperate need for help in the middle of their lineup, the Mavs signed center Kylor Kelley to a two-way contract on Sunday, and also requested waivers on two-way guard Jazian Gortman. Kelley (7-0, 230) was spending this season with the G League’s South Bay Lakers where he averaged 9.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 1.7 bpg while 
shooting 63.5 percent from the field in nine regular season games. In addition, in 14 Tip-off Tournament games for South Bay, Kelley averaged 12.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 2.9 bpg while converting 69.2 percent from the floor. Kelley was selected to the NBA G League All-Defensive team last season when he led the league in blocks (83) and in blocks per game (2.86). In his two seasons finishing his college career at Oregon State, Kelley was chosen to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team in 2019 and 2020. Since three of the Mavs’ four centers – Dereck Lively II, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell — are on the injured list, Kelley fills an immediate void for Dallas. He joins Daniel Gafford as the only two healthy centers on the Mavs’ roster.
*Jordan Poole (21.4 ppg), Kyle Kuzma (14.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Malcolm Brogdon (13.8 ppg) and Bilal Coulibaly (12.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) are the top players for the Wizards. They also have gotten solid contributions from Jonas Valanciunas (11.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg),rookie Alex Sarr (11.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Corey Kispert (11.1 ppg). Sarr was the No. 2 overall pick in last summer’s NBA Draft.
*On Dec. 5, the Mavs stomped the Wizards in Washington, 137-101. The 36-point beat down represents the second-largest win of the season for the Mavs, topped only by the 41-point whipping (132-91) they handed New Orleans on Nov. 19. Kyrie Irving (25 points), Luka Dončić (21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) and Klay Thompson (11 points) led the charge for the Mavs in that game. The Mavs outrebounded Washington in that contest, 58-39, and also shot 53.9 percent from the field (48-of-89) and 52.6 percent from beyond the three-point arc (20-of-38).
*The Wizards are just 1-20 on the road this season. The lone victory came on Oct. 28 in Atlanta when the Wizards tripped up the Hawks, 121-119, behind 26 points from Poole.
*The Mavs clearly miss five-time All-Star point guard Luka Dončić, who draws a lot of attention from defenses, which enables his teammates to get some wide-open looks. The Mavs are just 11-13 this season without Dončić, who averages 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS (6-38) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (24-22)
When: 7:30 p.m., Monday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream
Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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