Washington, DC – The Dallas Mavericks lost their final six games of 2012, but once the calendar turned to 2013, they got back on the winning track.
Vince Carter led six Mavs players in double figures with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting as Dallas posted a 103-94 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday at Verizon Center.
O.J. Mayo netted 15 points and handed out five assists, while Darren Collison donated 15 points and eight assists for the Mavs, who shot 50 percent from the floor. Chris Kaman scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Sean Marion gave a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki contributed 11 points in a 17-minute run off the bench in the triumph.
"The locker room is miserable and the coaches are miserable when you lose, so it was definitely one we wanted to get," Nowitzki said.
Bradley Beal scored a team-high 22 points and Emeka Okafor donated 14 points and 11 boards for the Wizards, who blew a 14-point second-quarter lead and lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games.
Martell Webster added 14 and six rebounds in the setback.
"They outscored us, and we couldn't get stops on defense," Beal said. "They came out strong in the second half and took the game to us."
With the Wizards holding a 52-48 lead at halftime, Okafor nailed a jumper early in the third quarter to give his team a 56-49 advantage, but then the Mavs battled back with a 12-2 surge to take a 61-58 margin with 8:04 to go in the session.
Leading 67-64, Dallas closed the quarter with a 16-7 run to lead 83-71 after three quarters.
A jumper by Carter early in the fourth quarter put the Mavericks on top, 87-73, but the hosts answered with an 8-3 push to close the gap to 90-81 with 7:52 to play.
Later in the quarter, Nowitzki gave the Mavs their largest lead of the game, 99-84, with a 3-pointer, but the Wizards responded with eight straight points to pull within 99-92 with 1:58 to go.
Washington would not get any closer, however, as Dallas held on for the victory.
Washington jumped out to a quick 10-4 start, but a putback slam by Carter made it a 10-6 game with 7:26 left in the opening 12 minutes.
A quick 9-4 spurt by the Wizards, capped by a pull-up 20-footer from Webster, made it a 19-10 game with 4:57 to go. Mayo hit a 3-ball later in the quarter to pull the Mavericks within 21-18, but Washington held a 29-23 advantage heading into the second stanza.
Kevin Seraphin buried a hook shot early in the second quarter to give the Wizards their largest lead of the half, 39-25, but the Mavs answered with a quick 5-0 flurry to slice the deficit to nine with 6:10 to play before the break.
Washington remained in front for the remainder of the quarter, but the Mavericks used a late surge to cut into the lead.
Trailing 52-41 with 1:49 left, Dallas closed the quarter with seven straight points to head into the third quarter down 52-48.
Game Notes
Dallas has won six straight and eight of the last nine meetings between the teams ... Wizards guard Jordan Crawford returned to action after missing last game with a sore ankle. He finished with nine points ... 20 of Washington's 25 losses have been by single digits ... Washington shot 40.5 percent from the floor and 10-of-26 from three-point range.
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