The Dallas Mavericks looked to extend their winning streak to six on Thursday night, facing the lowly Washington Wizards, losers of 15 straight games. Dallas teams of yesteryear would give up games like this, but this team has been playing their best basketball of late.

Now healthy, the Mavericks started Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington and Derek Lively II, while the Wizards started Jordan Poole, Malcolm Brogdon, Bilal Coulibaly, Alexandre Sarr and Marvin Bagley III.

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It was a strange start to the game, as Dallas seemed to be looking for early highlights, particularly from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. They showed a tight handshake and some deep step-backs early in the match. But a 13-0 start by the Mavs gave them a 16-6 lead to force a Washington timeout.

The first difference was three-point shooting, as the Mavs started 5/10 from deep and Washington was 0/9. The Wizards would cut the lead to five before the end of the first quarter, but the Mavs built the lead back to 31-22 before the second quarter after two three-pointers from Spencer Dinwiddie.

Klay Thompson got things going in the second quarter, hitting two three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game to put the Mavs up 39-24. Dallas continued to build on this and would lead by 20 a few minutes later.

The Wizards slowly chipped away at the lead by shooting ten free throws in the second quarter, bringing the lead back to 12 just before the end of the half. Kyrie Irving single-handedly stopped that momentum by scoring nine points in the final minutes to take a 68-50 halftime lead.

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Dallas picked up where they left off, opening the lead to 25 early in the third quarter. Assistant coach Jared Dudley said they wanted to extend the lead and let the rest of the bench play more so they could save their legs for Toronto on Saturday and wanted to build a big lead as soon as possible. It looked like the Mavs were about to do it until Washington cut the lead to 16.

The Mavs responded with a 10-0 run to take a 95-69 lead before the end of the third quarter, eventually taking a 102-77 lead before the fourth. Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively II combined for 13 points in the third quarter as things continued to open up at the rim on Luka Doncic’s passes.

Dallas’ lead was quickly increased to 30 in the opening minutes of the quarter following a corner three by Klay Thompson and a reverse dunk for Gafford. Luka Doncic would record his tenth assist a few minutes later, and that would be all we would see of the main rotation. Even Markieff Morris entered the game and hit a three against his former team near the end of this game.

The Mavericks would win 137-101 for their sixth straight victory and tenth over the last 11 games, and they now sit 15-8 in third place in the Western Conference. Depending on if the Rockets lose to the Warriors tonight, the Mavs could be tied for second. Meanwhile, Washington has lost 16 straight games, tying a franchise record set last year, and they are now 2-18.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavs in scoring with 25 points on 10/16 shooting. Luka Doncic recorded his first triple-double of the season with 21 points, 10 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel Gafford had a good game in his first game in DC since being traded to the Mavs last season, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Spencer Dinwiddie (12 points), Klay Thompson (11), PJ Washington (10), Quentin Grimes (14) and Jaden Hardy (13) also scored in double figures.

The Mavericks will play on the road again Saturday against the Toronto Raptors.

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