Kyshawn George posted career-bests of 34 points and 11 rebounds as the Washington Wizards overcame a slow start to notch their first win of the season, beating the host Dallas Mavericks 117-107 on Friday.
George, an early contender for Most Improved Player, added three blocks and two steals, while hitting 11 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 9 from 3-point territory.
Tre Johnson added 17 points off the bench, and Alex Sarr had 14 points, nine boards and three swats.
Anthony Davis paired 27 points with 13 rebounds for the winless Mavericks, while rookie Cooper Flagg and PJ Washington had 18 points each.
Dallas raced out of the blocks, opening up a 23-9 lead, highlighted by PJ Washington’s chasedown rejection of Bub Carrington’s breakaway dunk attempt.
It was the second poor start in as many games for the Wizards, who called a time-out and turned their fortunes around quickly.
After missing their first five 3-point attempts, they nailed their last four to close the opening quarter, capped by George’s trey on the final buzzer, which sliced Dallas’s advantage to 35-28.
George, who had 11 points in the first period, scored the first seven points of the second as the visitors used an 11-0 run to grab the lead, before retaining control through halftime.
Big dunks from PJ Washington and Cooper Flagg were rare second-quarter highs for the Mavs, who missed their first nine shots for the period in which they were outscored 30-17.
Dallas racked up 13 first-half turnovers to trail 58-52 at the main break.
The Wizards remained in the driver’s seat as George’s sixth 3-pointer stretched their buffer to 89-72, before a late flurry from Davis sliced the deficit to 13 at the end of the third.
Flagg scored four straight Dallas points in the fourth — including blowing by Khris Middleton for a thunderous two-handed jam — as the margin was cut to four points.
But a string of turnovers by the Mavericks down the stretch, and George’s back-breaking seventh three with 2:03 left, sealed it for Washington.
