Nov 12, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) celebrates his shot over Washington Wizards power forward Al Harrington (7) during the third quarter at the American Airlines Center. Nowitzki becomes the sixteenth all time scorer in NBA. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Losing is never fun, especially when you’re coming off the most disappointing loss of the season. After being up by as much as 9 points in the first quarter, the Wizards faltered and ultimately fell to the Dallas Mavericks on the road. Here are some quick Bullet Points:

Trevor Ariza has a knack for playing well in the final years of his contract, and he continued to shoot the ball well tonight in Dallas. He knocked down 5 of 11 three balls, and finished with a game high 27 points, most of which were assisted. Ariza gets credit for being a lock down defender, but most of his steals (4) come from gambling situations. Ariza ball watches way too much, putting the Wizards one step behind defensively. Instead of trying to gamble for a steal every possession, Ariza should focus more on helping the Wizards out defensively as a unit.

Washington’s big men weren’t awful offensively tonight, but they did struggle on the opposite end of the floor. Dirk Nowitzki and Samuel Dalembert combined for 34 points tonight, and many of their made field goals were uncontested which is unacceptable. Teams have taken advantage of Washington’s sub part interior defense, and unless something changes, this will continue throughout the entire season.

Bradley Beal came off the best game of his young career tonight, but couldn’t repeat the performance. He scored just 9 points on 2 for 10 shooting. Beal is third in the NBA in minutes per game, and when he’s struggling as much as he did tonight, I would’ve liked to see Randy Wittman give Glen Rice Jr. some floor time. Beal did get his teammates involved with 7 assists, but other than that he was pretty invisible tonight.

John Wall finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points to go along side 10 assists. Jose Calderon struggled defending Wall, and I certainly would’ve liked to see him attack the basket more tonight. Wall hasn’t looked very aggressive these past few games, and I hope that changes in the near future.

Washington’s bench was beyond awful tonight. Kevin Seraphin has never looked worse in his career, and Eric Maynor continued to stagnate the offense every time he stepped on the court. We obviously haven’t seen a large enough sample size to draw conclusions, but the Wizards’ bench hasn’t looked all too stellar thus far.

The Wizards will be back at it tomorrow night against the San Antonio Spurs.