Kaman 23 points as Mavs beat Wizards 107-101
DALLAS — Chris Kaman scored 23 points and had eight rebounds in only his second start for Dallas, and the Mavericks held on for a 107-101 victory over the winless Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
O.J. Mayo had 25 points as the Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak since Kaman's only other start.
Washington (0-7) had trailed by as many as 22 points before a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter. Cartier Martin capped that spurt with consecutive 3-pointers, swishing the second from the wing right in front of the Mavs bench and coach Rick Carlisle to get within 88-85. Kaman had a short hook on the Mavs' next possession.
After Kevin Seraphin made a hook over Kaman, the Mavs' 7-foot center scored with his back to the basket when he tossed the ball over his shoulder.
A defensive rebound by Kaman led to a basket by Mayo that made it 94-87, and still that almost wasn't enough.
Washington is the only NBA team still without a victory, and is one short of the franchise-worst start set just last season when the Wizards lost their first eight games.
Detroit won for the first time in its nine games earlier Wednesday, 94-76 at Philadelphia.
Seraphin had consecutive baskets and it was 101-98 with just under 2 minutes left. Seraphin then had a steal, but Jannero Pargo missed a potential tying 3.
Martin made another 3 in the closing seconds, but Kaman had another strong inside move and made the free throw.
The Wizards made six 3s in the fourth quarter, but never went to the free-throw line while Kaman's closing three-point play made Dallas 9 of 10 from the stripe in the final 12 minutes.
Washington outscored Dallas 34-22 in the fourth quarter without a starter getting on the floor. Seraphin had 14 of his 16 points in that spurt and Martin had 14 points after not even playing the first three quarters, and made all four of his 3-pointers.
Jordan Crawford led Washington with 21 points.
It was the first game in Dallas started together by the 7-foot Kaman and Elton Brand, Mavs newcomers who were past teammates with the Los Angeles Clippers. After three subpar games in a row, Carlisle wanted to shake up his lineup still missing injured starters Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion.
Brand had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jae Crowder, the rookie who had started the previous four games, scored 12 points off the bench.
The Wizards were within 37-33 when Emeka Okafor made a 7-foot turnaround jumper with just under 7 minutes left in the first half.
Brand then made both free throws after being fouled by Okafor to start a 15-2 run. And the Mavericks made 10 of their next 12 shots for a 63-45 halftime lead.
It was the first 40-point quarter this season for the Mavericks.
NOTES: Wizrards starting guard AJ Price sprained his right ankle. He finished with 11 points. ... Marion missed his fifth consecutive game because of a sprained left knee. Coach Rick Carlisle says Marion is getting closer to returning, but still isn't sure if he will make the trip for back-to-back games this weekend at Indiana and Cleveland. ... Nowitzki is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery before the season. ... Dallas has won five in a row against Washington since October 2009, and 16 of 21 overall. ... There was an announced crowd of 19,560, which was the team's 437th consecutive sellout — despite obvious blocks of empty seats throughout the arena.