Luka Doncic was doubt until the last moment but he ended up dressing short in the unexpected defeat 113-106 for the Dallas Mavericks at the home of the Sacramento Kings, who took advantage of a magnificent first half to stay in the lead and dominate the rhythm of the game.
The setback brings the Mavs (33-27) closer to the abyss of the ‘play-in’, with the Blazers (32-28) just one game away in seventh place in the Western Conference, and away from some Lakers (36-25) who took some air with their victory over the Magic.
Doncic didn’t have his best night and their discomfort in the left elbow they were noticed in a t
final party bouquet riddled with inaccuracies. The Slovenian missed a free kick two minutes after the conclusion that began to tip the balance in favor of the locals. In the final 30 seconds, the 22-year-old guard missed two desperate 3s. to try to braid a comeback that did not come.
The best player of the past week according to the NBA ended the clash with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists (8-20 TC; 4-12 3P) and saw as one of the rookie of the year award nominees, Tyrese haliburtonHe was getting the applause even from his coach Rick Carlisle.
The ‘rookie’ led Sacramento to victory with 14 points and 10 assists in his second game as a starter, replacing De’Aaron Fox, who will be away from the courts for two weeks due to the competition’s sanitary protocol.
Richaun Holmes added 24 points for the Kings and Harrison Barnes (19) and Buddy Hield (16) They completed the magnificent work of the starters of the Californian team.
After their two very important wins against the Lakers, the stumble against Sacramento took some of the rhythm away from some Mavs who had overcome well. the loss of Kristaps Porzingis, who has a slight ankle injury.
Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. accompanied Doncic’s effort with 19 points each, but little else stood out in these Mavs capable of the best and the worst in just one game. Dallas lost 18 points in the first quarter and started the clash with an embarrassing 20-3 run against.
Carlisle’s ended with 17 points in the first quarter (31-17) but they were able to braid a comeback that allowed them to cut the gap (50-47) at halftime. The Mavs’ first lead came in the third quarter right out of the break, but the team did not send by more than two points.
Dallas was within two possessions (109-104) with 1:45 to be disputed after a basket by Hardaway Jr. assisted by Dorian Finney-Smith. The rest of the plays were accounted for by the failures of both teams: the Kings only scored from the personnel line and Doncic didn’t hit until there were 22 seconds left with a layup after dividing the rival defense.
It was too late and the Mavs, once again, they sinned from a relaxed start to accumulate a new defeat that places them very close to the eye of the hurricane.