The Dallas Mavericks Have Their Glue Guy In P.J. Washington

On Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks pulled out a narrow 113-109 victory over the Miami Heat to improve to 2-2.

The spotlight was on Mavs star Cooper Flagg, who finished with 29 points and 11 assists in a near triple-double.

However, the Maverick with arguably the second-largest impact on the game was P.J. Washington, who finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds, 3 of which were on the offensive glass.

Washington was the second-leading scorer, tied for the most rebounds, and led the team in made threes with four. 

This was Washington's second game this season, scoring 20 points and having 3 offensive rebounds; his first was a double-double with 13 rebounds against Indiana.

Dallas is sitting at 18th in the NBA in points per game at 112.5 through the first four.

The Mavericks held the Heat to just 109 points on Monday, which was their second-best mark of the season, only to Indiana.

Through four games, Dallas, like the offense, is 18th in the NBA in opponent points per game, allowing 118 points per game. 

18th in both categories can be best described as mediocre at best.

However, Dallas improving where they stand as the season continues will rely on guys like Washington to help take the workload off of Flagg and Kyrie Irving.

We've seen the versatility on both ends of the floor from Washington through the start of the season, and he has continued to assert himself as the glue guy on the squad.

He is the player who hypes others up, does the dirty work that doesn't always get recognized, and can be the soul of the team.

Washington is averaging 15.5 points per game as the third leading scorer for Dallas, to go with 7.5 rebounds, which leads the team.

All of this while being arguably Dallas' best perimeter defender. According to NBA advanced stats, opponents have made only four three-point attempts on 13 shots when guarded by Washington, just over 30%.

Stats like these are what you need from a veteran who has established himself as a versatile player.

Going forward for Dallas, Washington, is a player who must keep getting involved on both ends.

With a new head coach, Dusty May, bringing in a new system, he made it clear that he wants Dallas to be more versatile with how they execute on offense and defense. Players should be able to score in multiple ways and guard multiple positions so the Mavericks have options.

This is a system built for combo-forwards like Washington to give them more responsibilities on the court, and increase production for the team.

The opportunity for Washington and Dallas to improve on both sides of the ball is there, they have to continue to trust the process.

The 2-2 Mavericks are back home in Dallas on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. CT for a matchup against the 4-0 Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that Washington knows very well.