Wizards begin road trip in Dallas

Michael Finley scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Mavericks to a 92-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday in front of their home crowd.

Antawn Jamison had his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Steve Nash and Josh Howard contributed 17 and 15 points respectively for the Mavericks, who were coming off back-to-back losses.

Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was injured against Phoenix on November 26, has missed the last two games with a sprained right ankle.

Nowitzki is also expected to miss tonight’s contest.

The Mavs are 9-0 as the host this season.

The Wizards, who start a four-game road trip tonight, lost their second in a row Saturday, losing to the Detroit Pistons, 80-69, at the MCI Center.

Brendan Haywood netted a career-high 23 points and grabbed a season-high 11 boards for the Wizards, who have dropped four of their last five games.

Larry Hughes had 15 points in a losing effort.

The Wizards made just 10-of-18 (56 percent) from the charity stripe against the Pistons.

Washington is 3-6 on the road this season.

The Wizards defeated Dallas earlier this season. Washington took home a 100-90 decision over the Mavs on November 5th at the MCI Center.

Overall, the Mavericks have won five of seven and seven of the last 10 meetings between the two squads.

Washington has lost two of its last three at Dallas.