P.J. Washington’s last useful work in Miami did not require another made shot. His nine rebounds included the one that secured Dallas’s final defensive possession, after a Davion Mitchell layup attempt was blocked. Washington had already supplied 20 points and four threes in the Mavericks’ 113-109 win Monday.
His late shooting offered no easy finish. Dallas needed Washington to keep working after misses, with Miami still within two points in the final minute. The closing possessions asked him to contribute in a way that did not depend on his next jumper falling.
Washington played 40:38 and shot 6 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 11 from three. The perimeter accuracy was ordinary rather than sparkling; Dallas finished 14 of 46 from behind the arc, or 30.4%. Yet Washington’s four makes arrived at useful intervals.
He did not need to turn the game into a personal shooting exhibition. He needed to provide another reliable scoring source while Flagg handled a heavy share of the creation.
Washington, Gafford and Irving each collected three offensive rebounds, accounting for nine of Dallas’s 13 between them. That shared work gave the Mavericks opportunities beyond their initial shots, even though a rebound did not guarantee that the next attempt would go in.
Washington made a three with 8:00 remaining in the opening quarter, off a Max Christie assist. That sequence helped the Mavericks build an early 19-11 advantage. In the second, Washington made a two-point shot at 7:02 after a Flagg assist.
With 30.8 seconds left before halftime, he hit another three, again with Flagg credited for the assist. Those plays offer a sensible picture of the partnership: Flagg supplied creation, while Washington converted enough of the resulting opportunities to make the possessions count.
His fourth-quarter rebounding became useful even on a possession that yielded no points. With 7:22 left in the fourth, Washington missed a three, then secured his own offensive rebound. Five seconds later, he missed a layup.
Zaccharie Risacher collected the next offensive rebound, but Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked Risacher’s follow-up and Miami recovered. Dallas got no points from the sequence, yet Washington’s rebound prevented the missed three from immediately ending the possession.
That kind of labor separated the teams statistically. Dallas finished with 13 offensive rebounds and 51 total rebounds; Miami had 10 offensive boards and 42 rebounds overall. Washington supplied three offensive rebounds himself. Daniel Gafford added three more before fouling out, and the Mavericks found enough second chances to keep their offense from being judged solely by its imperfect perimeter night.
