PJ Washington's massive turnaround works wonders for the Mavericks to win over the Wolves

It was a hectic contest Wednesday night in Minnesota as the Dallas Mavericks topped the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 120-114 in a game marked by a tremendous amount of bumps, bruises and stoppages. Both Daniel Gafford and Luka Doncic were injured in the first half of the game, but both returned shortly after their injuries.

Even the Timberwolves players were slipping and sliding all over the place, as the physicality in this contest mirrored how physical it was when these two teams played each other in the Western Conference Finals last season.

Kyrie Irving had a great performance in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 35 points, as Irving's outstanding shooting from outside and poise down the stretch were unmatched. Unfortunately, this was another game where Luka Doncic shot the ball poorly from the field, as Doncic scored a narrow 10-27 on the night.

However, Doncic made some crucial plays down the stretch to help Dallas bring this game home, including a really long-shot 3-pointer late in the game that helped seal the win for the Mavericks.

Dallas' role players were also instrumental in the win in this game, as Quentin Grimes and PJ Washington hit timely shots from outside all night and Naji Marshall followed up with the game-winning steal on Anthony Edwards.

Washington's shooting was a key reason why Dallas won this game, especially since it had struggled to shoot the ball in the previous three games this season. Washington was 3-16 on the road this season prior to this game, despite showing off his versatility as a defender, rebounder and slasher in Dallas' first three games.

Those three traits remained intact in this game against Minnesota, but Washington's 3-for-6 from 3-point range and confidence in his shooting from outside made the Dallas offense more lethal than ever before this season.

Washington finished the night with 17 points and continued to show how dynamic he is as a cutter and transition finisher, with plays like his alley-oop finish off a Doncic halfcourt pass late in the game emblematic of how his night went.

Washington is proving that he can execute plays like this on a game-like basis for the Mavericks team, but if he can continue to shoot the ball with this consistency, it will take the Dallas offense to unprecedented levels.

When Dallas traded to Washington a little over eight months ago, the biggest question fans had regarding whether Washington would fit on this Mavericks roster was his ability to shoot efficiently enough from outside. Washington struggled a bit in that regard late last season, but changed that mind with some electrifying shooting performances in high-intensity playoff games for Dallas last season.

Washington has worked tirelessly on his shot all season, so perhaps his first three games this season will prove to be outliers here in a few weeks, although he'll need to put in more performances like tonight for that to be definitive.