The Washington Wizards have jumped out to a fast start this season, winning sevem of their first nine games. This has been an impressive run, especially considering that they have been without shooting guard Bradley Beal. With such an impressive run without one of their biggest offensive weapons, the Wizards have been hoping to be even better once Beal returns from wrist surgery.

The wait came to an end tonight. Beal was a game-time decision all day before being declared active about 30 minutes before tip off. Beal did not start the game, however, as head coach Rand Wittman aimed to massage his playing time early on in his return. Well with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter, the Verizon Center crowd came to their feet as Bradley Beal took off his warmup shirt and headed over to the scorer's table to check in. With just under a minute remaining in the first quarter, Beal knocked down a long 2 from the baseline and the crowd erupted.

However, this wasn't all he had in store. Beal ended the game with a team-high 21 points (9-17 FG) in 25 minutes of play. This was not only more playing time than most expected, but also an excellent offensive performance for a man making his season debut.

John Wall started off with an ugly first half, but came alive in the second half to finish with yet another double-double. He couldn't get anything to fall in the first half, shooting just 1-10 from the field. However, he finished the game strong scoring 11 points (5-17 FG) and adding 11 assists and 6 rebounds. One of John Wall's best traits is his ability to control a game on both sides of the court even if he isn't having his best day offensively and he did just that tonight. The Wizards had excellent ball movement throughout the game and Wall really tried to push the break as much as he could. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end of the floor with 2 steals and 2 blocks, inluding a wildly impressive block on Chandler Parsons on a fast break attempt. Paul Pierce and Marcin Gortat each added 17 points while Otto Porter played a solid all-around game in 25 minutes off the bench.

However, the Wizards just didn't have enough to take down the top offensive team in the league. Monta Ellis has a big night, scoring 34 points (10-21 FG) including 18 in the first quarter alone. Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki each shot just 4-12 from the field, but Dirk and J.J. Barea were able to hit a number of clutch shots down the stretch to keep the Mavs out in front. All in all, the Wizards played a solid game with the score being within 5 points for almost the entire duration of the game. The Wizards fell to 7-3 while the Mavericks improved to 9-3 on the season.

The Wizards take the court next on Friday, November 21 at 8:00 PM EST to face the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Verizon Center.

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About the author
Matt Carr
Matt has a passion for all things DC sports. Expect a lot of articles revolving around the Redskins, Wizards, Nationals, and Capitals.