Marion blocks game-winning attempt, Mavericks win another 1-point game, beat Wizards 94-93

Mavericks win another 1-pointer, top Wizards 94-93

WASHINGTON — Shawn Marion blocked Caron Butler’s jump shot with 1.9 seconds to play, and the Dallas Mavericks opened the second half of their season Wednesday night by avenging a loss from opening night, beating the Washington Wizards 94-93.

Dallas extended its streak of victories in one-point games to nine, tied for second longest in NBA history. The Mavericks haven’t lost a one-point game since January 2007.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points, Jason Terry added 21, and Jason Kidd had 15 assists for the Mavericks, who are 2-1 on their five-game road trip and were coming off a big win against the Boston Celtics on Monday night. Terry started for Josh Howard, who missed the game with a stomach illness.

The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Wizards, who again missed a chance to win three in a row for the first time since April 2008. Randy Foye scored a season-high 26 points, Butler added 20, and Brendan Haywood had 13 points and 18 rebounds for Washington.

The Wizards beat the Mavericks 102-91 in Dallas to start the season, a win that appeared to validate Washington’s preseason confidence of being a top team in the Eastern Conference. That win seems ages ago for a team that has been rocked by the indefinite suspension of Gilbert Arenas for bringing guns into the locker room.

Only two Wizards who were in the starting lineup on opening night — Haywood and Butler — started Wednesday’s game. The Mavericks have gone on to be their usual playoff-bound selves — 28-14 after 42 games — while Washington’s record is nearly reversed: 14-27 at its halfway mark.

The Mavericks led 94-87 with 1:12 to play after Erick Dampier’s dunk following a turnover by Antawn Jamison, but Washington scored the last six points of the game with back-to-back 3-pointers from Foye and Mike Miller. Miller’s 3 made the score 94-93 with 27 seconds to play.

Then, with the Mavericks holding the ball and the one-point lead, Nowitzki worked the clock before driving to the basket — where he charged into Haywood with 6.7 seconds remaining.

The Wizards called timeout to set up a play, but Butler had no chance of getting his 16-foot jumper over Marion.

The Mavericks led by as many as 14 in the first half and 11 in the third quarter, but Andray Blatche scored six points in a 9-0 run that cut Dallas’ lead to 68-67 late in the third.

Dallas pulled ahead by five early in the fourth, but Miller capped a 6-0 Wizards run with an 11-foot fadeaway jumper that put Washington in front 75-74 with 9:12 to play, the home team’s first lead since 2-0.

A jumper by Nowitzki, a three-point play from Terry and an alley-oop from Kidd to Dampier completed a 7-1 run that gave the Mavericks an 86-81 lead with 4½ minutes left, but the Wizards wouldn’t go away.

Butler’s baseline fadeaway cut the lead to one, but Kidd found Terry for a layup that restored a five-point lead. Dampier’s dunk put Dallas ahead by seven before Washington’s final rally that fell just short.

NOTES: The Sacramento Kings also won nine one-point games in a row from 2002-05. The St. Louis Hawks hold the NBA record, winning 10 straight from 1959-60. … The Wizards are 3-6 since Arenas’ suspension. … Washington missed its first seven 3-pointers, finally connecting on Foye’s long-range attempt midway through the third quarter. … The Wizards are 2-1 midway through a six-game homestand. … In addition to Howard, F Tim Thomas was also inactive for the Mavericks. He is not on the five-game road trip due to personal reasons. … The Mavericks have scored fewer than 100 points in six straight games for the first time since an eight-game stretch from Feb. 8-24, 2008.