J.J. Barea Joins Exclusive Club with Assist Barrage Wednesday

Dallas Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea dished out 13 assists in 20 minutes of action during Wednesday's 112-107 win over the Washington Wizards.

His explosion of assists made him just the third player in the past 55 seasons to record at least 13 assists while playing fewer than 21 minutes, per the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com). The only other players to previously do the same include Russell Westbrook (14 assists over 20 minutes in 2014) and Jon Sundvold (13 assists over 20 minutes in 1984).

Barea recently returned to action after an extended absence due to a calf injury and reached 20 minutes of playing time for the first time since returning in Wednesday's tilt. Even if the 32-year-old floor general plays in each of the remaining games on the Mavericks schedule, he will ultimately take the floor for the fewest number of regular-season games since his rookie season in 2006-07.

The veteran's return provides the Mavericks with some additional depth off the bench at a pivotal point in the season. Dallas ranks 10th in the Western Conference standings, trailing the eighth-place Denver Nuggets by three games with 15 games left.

Dallas has now won seven of its last 10 contests and has its penultimate contest of the regular season at home against the Nuggets. It could prove to be a key determiner of which of those teams make the postseason depending on how things go in the 13 games prior to that.