Beal’s last-second layup helps Wizards beat Mavericks

Bradley Beal made a layup with 0.2 seconds left to reach 29 points and give the Washington Wizards a 119-118 victory over the Dallas Mavericks

WASHINGTON —
Bradley Beal made a layup with 0.2 seconds left to reach 29 points and give the Washington Wizards a 119-118 victory Friday night over the Dallas Mavericks, who have dropped three of five games without Luka Doncic.

Beal’s heroics came after Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. drew a blocking foul and hit one of two free throws with 1.8 seconds left. Beal was 11 of 28 from the field.

Washington made 19 of 38 3-pointers. Davis Bertans was responsible for five of them and finished with 20 points.

Rookie Rui Hachimura took it to Kristaps Porzingis, getting the Mavericks center into foul trouble and finishing with 17. Porzingis, who played without a protective face mask two nights after breaking his nose, had 11 points in just 21 minutes.

Seth Curry led the Mavericks with 20 points off the bench.

DONCIC UPDATE

Doncic is progressing in his rehab from a sprained right ankle, and the Mavericks hope he can play at least one game before the All-Star break, which begins for them after a game against Sacramento on Feb. 12. This is the second time Doncic sprained his right ankle this season, and it’s unclear what kind of maintenance it’ll need over the next few weeks and months.

“The hope is that he will be fully recovered and be able to play,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Full recovery means he’s 100% and we will go from there. Any time you have any body part that’s been injured a couple times, the training staff’s going to watch it very closely.”

STAYING PAT

Unlike previous years, Dallas made no moves at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. That didn’t surprise Carlisle.

“We like the roster,” he said. “We’ve liked it from the beginning of the year. The important thing now is to work on our health going into the break.”

The Wizards acquired 2018 first-round pick Jerome Robinson and fellow guard Shabazz Napier in a pair of deals in which they sent Isaiah Thomas to the Clippers and Jordan McRae to the Nuggets. Napier played against the Mavericks, while Robinson is expected to make his Washington debut Sunday.

“It was two great moves for us going forward,” coach Scott Brooks said. “They’re both going to get good opportunities to see where they are as players and hopefully we can develop them as the rest of the season comes along.”

TIP-INS

Mavericks: Curry returned after missing two games with left knee tightness. … G Jose Juan Berea missed a second consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. … Dallas had 14 turnovers that turned into 23 Wizards points.

Wizards: F Davis Bertans passed Gilbert Arenas for the most 3-pointers in team history through the first 50 games of a season. … Napier scored 14 points in his Wizards debut.

UP NEXT

Mavericks: Play perhaps their final game of this stretch without Doncic when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

Wizards: Continue their lengthy home stand by hosting the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

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