After winning a season-high seven consecutive games, the Dallas Mavericks have now lost two in a row after Max Strus' 59-foot prayer was answered on Tuesday night, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a walk-off 121-119 win.
The big shot by Strus not only overshadowed Luka Doncic's massive 45-point, 14-assist performance, but it also took attention away from P.J. Washington, who had a well-rounded game, finishing with 11 points on 5-8 shooting to go with two rebounds, two assists, three steals, one block and the go-ahead layup with just 2.6 seconds remaining in the game.
On Wednesday, The Athletic's Shams Charania gave his take on why the Mavs need to avoid the Play-In Tournament at all costs if they want a chance of making a real run in the postseason.
"Just a crushing loss," Charania said of Dallas' loss in Cleveland on the latest episode of Run It Back. "To me, the Mavericks are a team that probably needs to get out of the Play-In position and get somewhere in that five/six range in order to go and make some noise in the playoffs, upset a team. Because getting in the Play-In with this team ... there's just too many threats in the Play-In Tournament."
From there, Charania goes on to talk about how the Mavs view Washington as their own version of what Aaron Gordon brings to the defending-champion Denver Nuggets.
"If you get out of the Play-In Tournament, we know how great Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are, but to get the efforts around the board, that's why you go and get P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford. And last night, before that Strus jumper, Luka Doncic has that pass to P.J. Washington for what looked like the [game-winning] layup," Charania said.
"The Mavericks really believe that the P.J. Washington pickup is going to pay dividends. They compare him to Aaron Gordon, what Aaron Gordon means to Denver. Someone that can play multiple positions, guard multiple positions, versatile, offensively can impact the game. And they pursued a few guys at the trade deadline: Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma was another major target, and then they go get P.J. Washington.
"They really discussed similar concepts – Grant Williams and a first-round pick – for either Bobby Portis or P.J. Washington. Longer term, I'm curious to see how that pickup works out and how the rest of the season goes, but to me, they've gotta get out of the Play-In spot."
It's easy to see why the Mavs view Washington as a Gordon-esque player, given that he's gifted on both ends of the floor and comes from a situation with the Charlotte Hornets where there wasn't a lot of winning. Gordon didn't win a lot of games with the Orlando Magic throughout his first seven seasons in the league before becoming a glue guy for the Nuggets and ultimately helping them win a championship last summer.
The Mavs hope that trend continues with Washington in Dallas. Doncic and Kyrie Irving have enough star power to give any opposing team a scare in the postseason, but the production of Washington will determine just how high the Mavs' ceiling is this season.
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