Mavericks 105, Wizards 102
Monta Ellis scored a season-high 34 points as visiting Dallas outlasted Washington for its fifth straight victory.
J.J. Barea and Brandan Wright added 14 points apiece off the bench for the Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 points, Chandler Parsons had 11 and Tyson Chandler matched his season high with 16 rebounds.
Bradley Beal made his season debut after suffering a fractured wrist last month and scored a team-high 21 points off the bench for the Wizards. Paul Pierce matched his season high by scoring 17 points for the fourth time this season and Marcin Gortat also scored 17 for Washington, which was off to its best start in 40 years..
Barea scored seven points in the final 3:15, including a 3-pointer with 1:59 left that gave Dallas a four-point lead, and Gortat scored inside on the other end before Nowitzki came back with another 3 to push the lead to 102-97 with 1:20 on the clock. John Wall had a chance to tie the score but missed from beyond the arc with 26 seconds left, and the Wizards were forced to foul.
Dallas led 76-73 heading into the fourth and stretched its advantage to seven on a three-point play by Wright and a 19-footer by Barea. The Wizards came back with eight straight points and moved ahead 85-84 with 7:58 remaining, the first of 10 lead changes down the stretch.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ellis scored 18 of Dallas’s 23 points in the opening quarter, shooting 6-for-7 while the rest of the team was 1-for-12. ... The Mavericks' longest winning streak the last two seasons is five. ... Dallas came in leading the league in scoring (109.3) and margin of victory (+11.1).