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Saturday, Mar. 25 8:00pm ET
Washington wins fourth in five games | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- Chris Whitney's main task while filling in at point guard for Washington is to set up his teammates. When the Dallas Mavericks invited Whitney to shoot Saturday, he obliged. Whitney scored a career-high 29 points, including a pivotal steal and layup with less than three minutes left, as the Wizards continued their late surge with a 93-86 victory over the Mavericks. With the Mavericks double-teaming Juwan Howard, who hit only 2 of 11 shots and finished with four points, Whitney was often left open. He responded by connecting on 11 of 20 shots, playing all 48 minutes. "We ran a lot of pick-and-rolls and we caught them in some mismatches," said Whitney, who is starting because Rod Strickland is injured. "I was able to get my shot off before their big men were able to react. They were trying to stop Juwan so we needed other guys to step up. Juwan did a good job passing out of the double-teams and being a threat." Whitney scanned the box score and frowned when he saw he had only three assists. "I played the whole game so I need to have more assists than that," Whitney said. "But I'm happy with the win." Mitch Richmond added 20 points to help the Wizards to their fourth victory in five games, matching their most successful stretch of the season. But it was Whitney's play that won the game for the Wizards. "I'm happy for him," said Wizards coach Darrell Walker. "He's capable of that. He was controlling the flow of the game for us. I just wanted to keep him out there because he was playing well." Playing his first NBA game, Penn State rookie Calvin Booth added 10 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes for the Wizards. Booth was activated Thursday after spending the season on the injured list. Dirk Nowitzki's 18 points and 10 rebounds paced the Mavericks, who had won five of their previous seven. "We played hard but we didn't play well," said Erick Strickland, who had 13 points for Dallas. "I'm concerned because I hate to lose. We've got 13 games left and we've got to keep playing hard." Whitney scored seven of Washington's first nine points of the fourth quarter and the Wizards went on to build a 78-67 lead. But Dallas answered with 10 straight points. With the Wizards clinging to an 80-79 edge, Booth scored a field goal and Whitney stole the ball from Steve Nash and converted a layup for an 84-79 lead with 2:40 to play. Richmond's 20-footer with 2:00 left expanded Washington's lead to 86-79. Dallas got as close as 88-84 on Finley's 3-pointer with 31.4 seconds left, but Richmond hit four free throws and Aaron Williams added one from the line for the Wizards. Washington led 47-39 at halftime and took a 67-62 advantage into the final quarter. Dallas' loss allowed San Antonio, the NBA's defending champion, to clinch a playoff spot. Game notesDallas sixth man Cedric Ceballos, averaging 17.0 points, will sit out at least the next five games with a broken left pinkie finger, coach Don Nelson said. "He is really not able to do what he wants on the court," Nelson said. "If the finger doesn't respond, I'm not going to play him the rest of the year.". ... Whitney's previous career high was 21 points. ... The Wizards placed Rod Strickland (strained quadriceps muscle) on the injured list Thursday. ... Shawn Bradley had a season-high 14 rebounds for Dallas. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse Dallas Clubhouse RECAPS Charlotte 86 Atlanta 70
Washington 93
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