Naji Marshall scored 30 points and pulled down a key rebound in the closing seconds to help the Dallas Mavericks snap a four-game losing streak with a 111-105 win over the host Washington Wizards on Saturday.
The Mavericks were clinging to a three-point lead when Marshall grabbed an offensive rebound of a missed Brandon Williams jumper and was fouled with 17.2 seconds to go.
He made one of his two free throws to give Dallas the boost it needed.
The Mavericks were playing a fifth straight game without star Anthony Davis, and they also were missing Dereck Lively, Klay Thompson and Dante Exum.
P.J. Washington and Williams had 14 points each and Cooper Flagg and Max Christie both had 12 in Dallas’ much-needed balance attack.
The Wizards, who have now lost eight straight, were led by CJ McCollum with 25, Cam Whitmore with 19 and Alex Sarr had 17.
McCollum had 14 points and four rebounds in the first quarter, right away helping the Wizards put the Mavericks into a 16-9 hole.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd called timeout at that point, and whatever he said worked.
The Mavericks went on a 19-0 run to take a 28-16 lead.
Marshall led the way with six of his eight first-quarter points during the run.
The Wizards went on a 14-7 run to start the second quarter led by nine more points from McCollum.
The 6-foot-3 guard finished the first half with 23 points by hitting eight of his 12 shots from the field.
The Mavericks were able to open up a 57-49 lead with less than a minute to go as Marshall hit a jumper with 1:40 left in the first half, then nailed a three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining.
Marshall finished the half with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and hitting six of his seven free throws, leading Dallas to a 57-53 lead.
The Wizards outscored the Mavericks 33-25 to lead by as many as seven in the third quarter.
Marshall, who had been held scoreless in the third quarter, scored five points in the final 1:37 of the quarter to cut the Washington lead to 86-82 after three quarters.
–Field Level Media
