GAME THREAD: Dallas Mavericks at Washington Wizards

WHO: The Dallas Mavericks visit the Washington Wizards

WHAT: A chance to end a six-game losing streak or further embarrass themselves.

WHERE: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: 5 pm CT

HOW: FSSW | NBALP

THE STORY: The Dallas Mavericks are bad at basketball. Coincidentally, the Washington Wizards are also bad at basketball, so the chance of Dallas losing by 20 points is greatly reduced. But still possible. The Wizards are stinky, but have enough young players that could bust out against a Mavericks team that's in shambles. Really, how surprised would you be to read the next morning that Bradley Beal and Jordan Crawford scored a career-high this game, Kevin Sheraphin collected a double-double or Nene scored 25 on 10 shots? Not at all. And that's how bad the Mavericks are. Even worse, the Wizards have a sneaky-good defense that could give Dallas fits, especially on the road, where Dallas is even worse than normal. This could be a game where Dirk Nowitzki finally returns to form, since none of the Wizards front-line defenders have the lateral quickness to keep up with Dirk past the free-throw line. If the Mavericks lose this game, the season is over. It's sad that you can't even tell if I'm being over-dramatic. The Mavericks aren't good :(