Mavericks-Wizards Preview

By BRETT HUSTON

(AP) -- A peak at the Southeast Division shows that Washington is off to a strong start, but look a bit closer and it's tough to find an impressive victory on the Wizards' resume.

That could change Wednesday night.

The Dallas Mavericks bring the league's best offense to Verizon Center, where they'll look to spoil Washington's perfect home start with a fifth consecutive victory overall and ninth straight in this series.

Washington (7-2) is one of only three Eastern Conference teams with seven victories, but considering those wins have come against clubs with a collective .368 winning percentage, it's still tough to gauge how good the Wizards are.

They might have a better idea by the end of the week. Washington hosts Cleveland on Friday, but first up is a visit from the Mavericks (8-3) and an offense that's producing 109.3 points per game.

"They get up and down, and from a defensive standpoint we're gonna have to be on our toes," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "There's a lot of different weapons they have, a lot of different scenarios that pop out.

"They're going to score. We've got to see if we can slow them down and disrupt what they want to do. It's going to be a tall task for us."

It's a task the Mavericks' last three opponents, in particular, haven't been up to. Dallas has topped 50 percent from the field and averaged 120.3 points in that stretch, hanging 67 on the Hornets in the first half of Monday's 107-80 road win.

Dirk Nowitzki had 13 points in 25 minutes, the most he's had to play in the past three victories. He's averaging just 27.5 minutes, and no player has been on the floor for more than 31.6 per game so far as Dallas has won five games by at least 14 points - albeit all against teams well below .500.

"We're a tough team," Nowitzki told the Mavericks' official website after joining Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan as the only players to score 27,000 points with one franchise. "I mean, we still have a long way to go this season, but we like where we're headed. Obviously, we've got to get better as the competition gets better, but (Monday) was a good road win for us."

Lately, Dallas has been sharing the basketball and taking good care of it, topping 30 assists in each of its last three while posting single digits in turnovers in the previous two to bolster a plus-7.7 turnover differential that's the best in the league.

The Mavericks' bench has averaged 50.3 points in the past three contests.

"Look, we've got to have balance. It all can't come from one guy," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We can't put the whole game on Dirk's shoulders or Monta (Ellis') shoulders or anything like that. The ball has got to move, so we did a lot of good things."

The Wizards might get Bradley Beal back later this week - he returned to practice Monday - but for now their depth is coming up big as well. Washington's bench has outscored the opposition's 172-96 over the last four games, with the reserves hitting 22 of 34 (64.7 percent) from the field in Saturday's 98-93 win over Orlando.

Only John Wall has topped the 30-minute mark in the last two games as the Wizards have improved to 4-0 at home.

"When your second unit's giving you 48 (points), you can give guys rest," Wittman said. "If a group's out there playing well, they're going to stay out there."

The Dallas bench outscored Washington's 66-35 in last season's two meetings, helping extend the Mavs' series winning streak to eight despite Nowitzki's 11-of-33 shooting.