Mavs can’t get over the hump in DC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Mavericks take pride in their balance. They take pride in their defense. There wasn’t much to be proud of Monday afternoon.

The Mavs (27-13) never really gave themselves a chance in their 102-84 loss to Washington before a sold-out Verizon Center. Dallas was careless with the ball and didn’t get much out of anyone not named Josh Howard or Dirk Nowitzki.

The Wizards were at the other end of the basketball spectrum, playing loose and confident. One only needed to watch DeShawn Stevenson flick 3-pointers as the shot-clock expired to know it wasn’t the Mavs’ day.

“That just about sums it up,” Jerry Stackhouse said. “The game was there, but we were never able to take control of the game. Every time we cut the lead to one, we would have a bad possession on a chance to take the lead. I don’t think we led the whole game.”