The Dallas Mavericks (34-37) caught a feel-good 123-117 win over theDetroit Pistons (39-32) on Friday at American Airlines Center. Dallas shot 42-of-80 (52.5%) from the field with just nine players available in the win. The Mavericks’ win forced the 10th-place Phoenix Suns into a situation where they had to hold serve against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers (56-13, 1st place in the East entering Friday) to retain their slim lead over the Mavericks in the race for the last remaining play-in berth in the West with 11 games left in the season. That game was in the third quarter, with Phoenix leading when Dallas’ win over Detroit went final.
Big nights from PJ Washington, Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie sparked the much-needed Dallas win, if wins that inch the Mavs toward the play-in tournament in the Western Conference are what the team is truly after at this point. I’ll say this for this injury-ravaged Dallas bunch: they refuse to roll over, and it can provide the faintest glimmer of optimism if that’s what you’re looking for.
Here’s how the Mavs graded out individually in the hard-earned win over a playoff-bound squad from the East.
PJ Washington: B+
27 Points / 3 Rebounds / 2 Steals / 4 Blocks (38 Minutes)
Washington remains one of the only available Mavericks we can find a modicum of joy in watching play. He bullied his way to the rack midway through the second for a contested bucket that put the Mavericks ahead, 45-39, and flexed for the cameras after shedding his defender. His smooth 3-pointer in rhythm from the left wing put Dallas up 60-51 with 37 seconds left before halftime. He was 3-of-3 from deep in the first half, then banged home a fourth early in the third.
Washington missed his next three 3-balls and turned the ball over four times in the fourth quarter, though. Committing nine turnovers is never an optimal result, but in a win, it’s merely a teachable moment.
P.J. Washington Jr. eclipsed 5,000 career points with a 3-point basket at the 10:02 mark of the 1st quarter tonight vs. Detroit.
Washington reached the milestone in his 383rd career game. pic.twitter.com/LxF6PdvGf2
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) March 22, 2025
Jaden Hardy: D
0 Points / 1 Rebound (10 Minutes)
Hardy made a (pardon me if you’ve heard this one before) clumsy play with the ball in his hands that ended with a Tobias Harris runout and an easy dunk to cut Dallas’ lead to 26-24 and force a timeout with 3:23 left in the first quarter. He fell down in the second quarter while attempting a run-of-the-mill crossover dribble, but luckily enough didn’t give the ball away on that play. He shot 0-of-5 from the field in the win. The fact that Hardy saw just 10 minutes of playing time on a night like Friday speaks loudly.
Kai Jones: B+
10 Points / 7 Rebounds / 3 Assists / 2 Blocks (24 Minutes)
Jones blocked a couple of shots and scored a couple of buckets in the first quarter to contribute to the cause against the Pistons. He was a net positive in the win, going 5-of-6 from the field, often on the receiving end of driving assists inside from his teammates.
Klay Thompson: A-
20 Points / 5 Rebounds / 1 Assist (30 Minutes)
Thompson’s poor pass on Dallas’ first possession of the second half was as ugly as his baseline 3-pointer on a broken play two possessions later was pretty. He got by his defender for a nice drive to the hoop with eight minutes left in the third to give the Mavs a 74-68 advantage, then did it again one possession later to keep Dallas’ nose in front, 76-71. He nailed a mid-range jumper after a nice pump fake to give the Mavericks a 97-85 lead and force a Detroit timeout with 10 minutes to play. He shot just 3-of-11 from 3-point range in the win.
Naji Marshall: A
19 Points / 11 Rebounds / 5 Assists / 2 Steals / 1 Block (36 Minutes)
Detroit Pistons v Dallas Mavericks Naji Marshall #13 of the Dallas Mavericks dribbles the ball during the game against the Detroit Pistons on March 21, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Marshall just can’t stop, won’t stop playing hard, whether the ball is in his hands or not, and that tenacity has been one of the only consistent bright spots for the Mavs as the season’s prospects have dimmed in the last two months. He made a pull-up jumper in the lane after a broken play to give the Mavs a 50-41 lead with five minutes left before halftime. Then he banked in a tough little leaner to put Dallas up 53-43 less than a minute later.
Marshall’s leaner in the lane kept the Mavs in front 78-73 midway through the third. He missed his first shot attempt before converting on his next six. How’s that for efficiency? The Knife cut through the Detroit defense for another mid-range floater as time expired in the third to put the Mavs up 91-83 going into the fourth.
Marshall made a dazzling play slicing through the lane with a behind-the-back find for Washington and an easy lay-in to put the Mavs ahead 95-85 with 11 minutes to play. He hit a big 3-pointer when the Mavericks needed it most with 7:40 left in the fourth to give Dallas a 102-96 cushion.
Dwight Powell: B-
4 Points / 3 Rebounds / 2 Assists (19 Minutes)
Powell showed a little spark late in the first when he chased down an offensive board away from the basket that led to a driving floater from Marshall to give the Mavs a 35-26 lead late in the first. He finished with a grown-man alley-oop dunk on a nice find from Dinwiddie early in the second to put the Mavs in front 37-29.
There were a couple of times that Jalen Duren manhandled Powell inside, but it’s hard to hold that against the fill-in five too much. Duren piled up 12 points and five rebounds in the first half on his way to 14 and nine in the loss. Powell found gold on the offensive glass for a put-back jam late in the third to extend Dallas’ lead to 86-77.
Spencer Dinwiddie: A+
31 Points / 3 Rebounds / 7 Assists / 2 Steals (39 Minutes)
Detroit Pistons v Dallas Mavericks Spencer Dinwiddie #26 of the Dallas Mavericks dribbles the ball during the game against the Detroit Pistons on March 21, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
We got a dose of good Dinwiddie in this one, to the tune of a new season-high scoring mark. He scored 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range in the first before backing his defender down for a mid-range fadeaway early in the second. His takeaway midway through the second led to a wide open dunk from Kai Jones, and his find of PJ Washington for a 3-pointer along the wing put the Mavs in front 60-51 right before halftime.
Dinwiddie converted on a fall-away shot along the baseline for a 3-point play as part of a four-point trip down the floor (to go along with a Klay Thompson technical foul free throw) midway through the third to put the Mavs ahead 82-73. His giant-killing, tear-dropping banker late in the shot clock put Dallas up 109-103 with 2:55 remaining. Dinwiddie went 9-of-12 from the field in the win.
Max Christie: C-
5 Points / 8 Rebounds / 2 Assists / 2 Steals (24 Minutes)
Cormac Karl “Max” Christie banged in his first 3-point attempt from the right corner with 2:45 left in the first quarter to put the Mavericks up 29-24. He got in the passing lane and came away with a steal a minute later. Other than that, it was a relatively quiet 1-for-4 shooting night for a guy who has flashed much brighter than that recently.
Brandon Williams: C
7 Points / 3 Rebounds / 5 Assists / 2 Steals (18 Minutes)
Williams got lost on a pick-and-roll defensively early in the second quarter, paving the way for an easy bucket for Isaiah Stewart. He lost the ball out of bounds on a fast-break opportunity midway through the third, too. His throwaway in transition just minutes later led to an easy hoop from Simone Fontecchio as the Mavs were trying to build on their late lead. It’s tough to outdo Jaden Hardy in negative plays in the backcourt, but Williams tried his best in the win over the Pistons.
After so many pleasant surprises along the way, Friday just wasn’t Williams’ night. He went just 2-for-9 from the field but made a nice play with 2:20 left in the game on a find along the baseline for a Kai Jones dunk. His first bucket of the game came 25 seconds later on a tough scooping drive to put the Mavs up 114-108.