The Dallas Mavericks were dealt their toughest card of the season on Christmas Day when Luka Doncic went down with a calf strain, and the injuries have kept on rolling in as Kyrie Irving is currently out with a back injury. Dallas' start to their time without Doncic and Irving had not been ideal before Tuesday night, and the numbers backed that up.
Entering Tuesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas had lost 10 straight games when both Doncic and Irving were out of the lineup, and Mavericks fans were extremely concerned about whether the team would be able to stay above water over while the superstars were out.
All of that former concern from Mavericks fans went out the window against the Lakers, as they blew them out at the American Airlines Center and grabbed their first win since December 27.
Quentin Grimes had a huge game against Los Angeles as he finished with 23 points while shooting 6-11 from downtown, and his locker mate P.J. Washington also had an excellent game as he finished with 22 points.
Washington's message to the Mavs means more than anyone realizes
Washington shot a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc in this game and dominated in the paint, but his biggest contribution came before the game even started.
During Jason Kidd's postgame press conference, he talked about how Washington stepped up in the locker room before the game to give a speech and provided a message to "keep guys together." Kidd said that Washington talked about how this is a new team with a lot of injuries, and Kidd continued to say that the team believes they can win every single game they suit up for.
Grimes also talked about Washington's speech after the game in his postgame press conference, and he said that Washington emphasized that everyone needed to "play their game," and "play for each other."
"Go out there, have fun, and take it one game at a time," Grimes said of Washington's pregame message to the team. "I feel like P.J. did a good job of bringing us together for sure before the game."
The energy among the team was high heading into the game according to Kidd, and Mavericks fans know better than anyone that these types of speeches are exactly what's needed to turn a season around.
Last year, Dallas was playing some of their worst basketball of the season, and Markieff Morris stepped up in the locker room and gave a speech as they had lost five of their last six games. From that point onward, the Mavericks went 16-4 to finish the year and ended up making a run to the NBA Finals. Their season looked like it could have been toast before Morris spoke up, and these types of positive messages are needed at certain times to bring morale to the team in tough moments.
In a similar vein, Washington's speech happened after Dallas had lost five games in a row, and it gave the team the energy they needed to defeat LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Mavericks fans are hopeful that this speech from Washington will deliver the same results that Morris' speech did last season.
Dallas will have a chance to increase their winning streak to two games tonight as they take on the Portland Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Center amid the winter storm that hit DFW this morning.
