Barnes, Mavericks begin 2017 with victory over Wizards | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

After promising that things would be better once they got healthier and the calendar flipped to 2017, the Dallas Mavericks made good on that promise Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

Utilizing a balanced attack, the Mavericks placed six players in double figures in rallying past the Washington Wizards 113-105 before a sellout crowd of 19,318.

The victory was the fourth in seven games for the Mavs (11-24). It also was the beginning of a three-game homestand that the Mavs hope — when it’s over — will get them miles away from the Western Conference cellar.

Harrison Barnes led the Mavs with 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting. No basket was bigger than Barnes’ 3-pointer with 24.3 seconds left to put Dallas ahead by the final margin.

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“We were just a little rattled [before that], but [Deron Williams] was very poised in that situation,” Barnes said. “He got in the paint and hit [Wesley Matthews], and he threw it to me — and I had missed some shots down the stretch — but I just tried to relax and I shot it with confidence and it went in.”

That put the finishing touches on a night that saw Barnes also grab seven rebounds and dish out a career-high-tying five assists.

“It was one of those ‘finally’ moments,” Barnes said of his final basket. “I had gotten some tough shots and I thought I could have gotten my rhythm to get one of those to fall, and I was kind of just hoping to let me just get one back to kind of make it all even, and that was a good one.”

The Mavs were exceptional from downtown, converting 17 of 32 from 3-point territory. Overall, Dallas made 47.4 percent of its shots and also outrebounded the Wizards 44-38.

Washington used a 20-3 rally to take a 67-61 lead at halftime. John Wall scored 13 of his 20 first-half points during the surge.

But the Mavs slammed the door on Wall in the second half, holding him to just seven points. They also held the Wizards scoreless in first four minutes of the final period — when the Mavs seized control of the game.

“I felt like in the first half Wall just got too much in our paint,” said Devin Harris, who tallied 17 points. “So we started to go underneath his pick-and-rolls and try to force him to shoot jump shots from the outside.”

That strategy worked as the Mavs steadily chipped away at the Wizards’ nine-point lead.

Besides Barnes and Harris, the Mavs got 21 points and six assists from Williams, 16 points from Seth Curry, 12 from Matthews and 11 from Dirk Nowitzki. Andrew Bogut, who hobbled off the court with less than three minutes to go, was scoreless but grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes.

Coach Rick Carlisle said: “My understanding is that it is not serious, but I have not talked to him.”

Washington	29	38	21	17	—	105
Dallas	28	33	26	26	—	113

Wash.	Min	FG-A	FT-A	R	A	F	Pt
Morris	25:38	5-10	2-3	5	0	3	13
Porter	36:55	5-11	0-0	4	3	3	13
Gortat	39:57	5-11	2-2	16	4	2	12
Beal	35:17	10-26	2-3	4	6	2	25
Wall	39:21	10-19	6-6	4	8	0	27
Oubre	25:26	3-5	0-0	3	2	3	8
Thornton	15:02	1-3	0-0	0	0	3	3
Burke	8:39	0-3	0-0	0	4	1	0
Smith	8:03	2-3	0-0	1	0	2	4
McClellan	5:42	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	0
Totals	240	41-92	12-14	38	27	19	105

Dallas	Min	FG-A	FT-A	R	A	F	Pt
Barnes	34:58	8-18	8-9	7	5	5	26
F-Smith	26:20	0-1	0-0	6	1	1	0
Nowitzki	24:06	4-9	2-2	9	0	2	11
Matthews	38:12	5-11	0-0	2	2	0	12
Williams	31:55	7-13	3-3	1	6	4	21
Curry	22:25	5-8	2-2	2	2	2	16
Bogut	19:41	0-3	0-0	6	2	1	0
Harris	17:01	6-11	1-1	4	1	2	17
Powell	13:19	2-3	4-5	4	1	2	8
Anderson	4:53	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0
Mejri	3:52	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0
Jackson	3:18	0-1	2-2	0	0	1	2
Totals	240	37-78	22-24	44	20	21	113