Wizards Battle Hard But Fall In 111-105 Loss To Mavericks, Turn Focus To Pistons
- Skylar Nelson
- Nov 11, 2025
- 3 min read
Despite losing to the Dallas Mavericks 111-105, the Washington Wizards have been showing off a fiery new wave of basketball.
“I’m really pleased with the guys tonight, the competitive response that we were looking for. These are the games that we wanna be in,” said Head Coach Brian Keefe. “Close games, tight games, a lot to learn from that. I made a little miscue there myself, so we can all grow [in] these situations. But the best part was… our effort, our physicality, our defensive edge was there, and our competitiveness. We got a little stagnant there in the fourth quarter, which can happen, those are learning and growing moments.”
Washington took a thrilling leap early on in the game with a 16-9 lead before Dallas responded with a 19-0 run.
The Mavericks managed to build a 14-point lead, but the Wizards clawed back taking an eight point lead in the fourth quarter. Then, that’s when Washington’s offense struggled, and the defense faltered, opening the door for Dallas to make a comeback, winning the game by six.
“We gave a lot of second-chance points and we should have been boxing out, and crashing all five guys to the basket a little bit more, but I felt like down the stretch it was really second-chance points that kinda you know hurts us, said forward Cam Whitmore.”
The Wizards’ perimeter defense showed just how vulnerable they could be as Dallas’ forward Naji Marshall torched them with 30 points on just 14 shots, adding eight rebounds, two assists, and three steals in a breakout performance.
Although the Wizards started the season surprisingly strong as a defensive rebounding team, Washington seems to be going back to last year’s struggles on the glass. Dallas managed only six of 24 three-pointers but compensated with 16 offensive boards, and won the battle of turnovers 13-18.
Next up, the Wizards will take on the Detroit Pistons, after meeting up in the preseason. The Pistons are coming off of a 111-108 win over the Philadelphia Eagles improving 8-2, while Washington will be coming in sitting at 1-9 tied with the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers.
Washington are without a doubt underdogs against Detroit as their opponent is coming off of a second night of back-to-back matchups, but it will be up to Washington to fight to get themselves back into the win column.
“It’s important, we were really close so it’s a lot of stuff that we can learn from tonight, go back, and watch on the film on stuff we can do differently in crunch time,” said forward Alex Sarr. “But you know it’s all a learning experience and it’s gonna make us better at the end of the day.”
Player Notes:
CJ McCollum is Washington’s most reliable guard option and has been a primary leader this year. He recorded 23 points in the first half against Dallas on Saturday but only had just two points, shooting 1-of-7 from the field.
Sarr has grown tremendously since his rookie season and has increased his motor, play-making ability, and defensive awareness. He’s finishing 77% around the rim and although there is some inconsistency his energy has allowed him to chase down misses and turn them into second-chance opportunities for scoring.
Cam Whitmore recorded a season-high of 29 minutes (and Wizards-high of 19 points) against Dallas as he showed solid communication on defense. There’s still room for improvement as he is growing in game versatility, but 19 points in 29 minutes is a step forward in the right direction for Whitmore with a lot of basketball ahead.
Kyshawn George, for a second time in just nine games so far this season, committed five fouls five times and four fouls just once, but he’s going to have to learn how to manage his play without fouling so often.
Tre Johnson is a draft pick with amazing potential but he is just not ready to start for Washington. But don’t be surprised if he has a potential breakout.
“Keep building on that [physicality against Mavericks], keep this the consistent thing to how we play,” said Keefe. “Keep making this something that we can do for longer and for better. That’s the goal for us, those are the important things. That was a good step tonight.”
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