On Sunday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Sacramento Kings as the Mavericks continue their five game home stand. Time is starting to run out for the Mavericks to grab a top six seed in the western conference standings in order to avoid the “Play-In Tournament”. The Mavericks will need to clean things up in order to move up in the standings. This will be yet another big game for the Mavericks as they have lost three of their last four games.

On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks played the New York Knicks in the first game of a five game home stand. The Mavericks started this game by being mostly behind the Knicks as the Knicks were able to grab a 56-52 halftime lead. The Mavericks simply could not stop Julius Randle as he toured the Mavericks by scoring 44 points in route for a 117-109 win. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 45 points but it even near enough for a win. With the loss, the Mavericks record dropped to 30-25 on the season, as they now have lost four of their last six games. The Mavericks lost some ground as they are now two games from the sixth seed and four games from the fifth seed in the western conference standings. The Mavericks find themselves in big trouble at the wrong time on the season as they are looking to avoid being in the “Play-In Tournament”. If things don’t drastically change for the Mavericks, they will have a good chance of playing in the “Play-In Tournament”.

The Sacramento Kings are coming into this game by going 1-9 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a 122-114 loss against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday to see their record drop to 22-34 on the season. The Kings are coming into this season with some hopes of trying to have a “successful” season as they look to take the next step in their “rebuilding process”. The Kings are currently twelfth in the western conference standings. This team is led by De’Aaron Fox as they look to finish the season on a good note. If their current trend continues, they will have a good shot at landing a good pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks have never played the Kings until now on the season. The Mavericks previously won their regular season series last season 3-1 against the Kings. Overall, the Mavericks hold the all-time series with a record of 96-73.

The Mavericks started this game by having Tyrell Terry (personal reasons) remain out still while everyone is available to play. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Richardson, Kleber, Finney-Smith and Porzingis as their starting five in this game. The Mavericks are 16-5 on the season with this exact same lineup. The first points in the game would belong to Hassan Whiteside as he nailed a two pointer while being fouled and knocked down the “AND ONE” free-throw for the Kings to get this game underway. A quick timeout by Rick Carlisle would take place as he called it with 10:09 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Kings jumped out to a 5-0 run to begin the game as they made two of their first six attempts while the Mavericks offense was flat out cold as they missed their first four attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks simply cannot play sloppy and “sleep” on this team as the Kings are very capable of beating anybody. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Maxi Kleber and couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer that kept the score at 5-0 with 9:49 left in the quarter. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points until the 8:49 mark as Josh Richardson drilled a three pointer to come within 8-3 of the Kings. The Kings were playing like they had nothing to lose as they began the game red hot while the Mavericks offense was still asleep. The Kings were able to extend their lead to 14-4 after Hassan Whiteside nailed a “put-back” shot to take a ten point lead with 7:04 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to 14-8 after Kristaps Porzingis drilled a three pointer that forced the Kings to call a timeout with 5:51 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense barely started to wake up as they were able to generate a 5-2 run to get something going in the game. Not the type of start the Mavericks wanted, but it happened and now they will have to adjust and fix their mistakes. Coming out of the timeout, the Kings turned to De’Aaron Fox as he was able to convert on jump shot to extend their lead to 16-8 with 5:42 left in the quarter. The Kings reached the 20-point mark in the game by having De’Aaron Fox knocked down a jump shot to extend their lead to 20-8 with 4:50 left in the quarter. The Kings were playing like “Kings” as they were dominating this quarter to begin the game. The Mavericks finally reached double digits as Kristaps Porzingis knocked down a “put-back” shot to come within 20-10 of the Kings with 4:08 left in the quarter. The Mavericks looked like they just realized they had a game today and had to quickly warmup and play, as they were all over the place in the game thus far. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Kings were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 22-20 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Kristaps Porzingis and Hassan Whiteside as they scored 9 points for their respective teams. The crown belonged to Sacramento as they simply dominated the quarter on both ends of the court. The Mavericks were shooting 24% on 6-of-25 shooting from the field at the end of the quarter. The Kings were dominating the Mavericks in points in the paint as they out-scored the Mavericks 16-8 in the quarter.

The second quarter would begin by having Jalen Brunson nail a free-throw for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Kings wouldn’t get their first points in the quarter until the 11:30 mark as Hassan Whiteside nailed a two pointer to extend their lead to 24-21. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to 25-23 after Luka Doncic knocked down a floating jump shot to come within two points of the Kings with 10:05 left in the quarter. The game would find its way to be tied after Willie Cauley-Stein knocked down two free-throws to tie the game at 25-25 with 9:39 left in the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 8:30 left in the quarter after the Kings were able to take a 31-27 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Kings were able to generate a quick 6-2 run to grab control of the lead and the game. The Mavericks offense were able to get something going but it wasn’t enough to grab the lead. The Kings came to play as they weren’t messing around and wanted to grab the win for the team. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Jalen Brunson as he was able to convert on a three pointer to come within 31-30 of the Kings with 8:18 left in the quarter. The Kings would follow that up by going on a quick 6-0 run after Harrison Barnes knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 37-30 with 7:37 left in the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:21 left in the quarter after the Kings were able to generate some momentum and extend their lead to 42-32. Prior to this timeout, the Kings offense was on a roll as they were able to generate a 15-5 run that featured a thunderous slam dunk by Chimezie Metu that got his teammates hyped up from the bench. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dorian Finney-Smith as he was able to convert on a “tip-in” shot to snap their scoring drought and come within 42-34 of the Kings with 5:49 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to five points after Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a three pointer to give the Mavericks a much needed basket and come within 47-42 of the Kings, that resulted in the Kings calling a timeout with 4:13 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks started generate a rhythm as their offense started to roll by generating a quick 8-2 run to make it a game. Coming out of the timeout, the Kings turned to Maurice Harkless as he was able to convert on a jump shot to extend their lead to 49-42 with 3:51 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Kings were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 67-50 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to De’Aaron Fox as he scored 16 points for the Kings. The Mavericks were led by Dorian Finney-Smith as he scored 11 points. The Mavericks were able to do something but it wasn’t enough as the Kings dominated the quarter by getting some good quality shots on offense. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks were shooting 37% on 17-of-46 shooting from the field. The Kings were able to out-score the Mavericks 45-30 in the quarter. This was simply a pathetic performance by the Mavericks as they simply had no excuse to play against one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA like this. The Mavericks were playing like the “Monstars” took their talents away, like the movie from SpaceJam.

Coming out of the half, the Mavericks were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Dorian Finney-Smith nail a three pointer to come within 67-53 of the Kings. Maurice Harkless was able to score the first points in the quarter for the Kings as he nailed two free-throws with 10:24 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 69-54. The Mavericks, for some reason, kept taking three pointers when they are shooting just 25% from behind the arc, hoping to shoot themselves back in the game but it wasn’t working at all with none of them going down. Double technicals would be assed to Kristaps Porzingis and Maurice Harkless as they were trash talking each other with 9:18 left in the quarter as the Kings led 71-54. The Kings were able to extend their lead to 76-57 after Harrison Barnes knocked down a jump shot with 8:36 left in the quarter. Nothing was going right for the Mavericks as they struggles continued on both ends of the court. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:50 left in the quarter as the Kings were able to extend their lead to twenty-one points at 80-59. Prior to this timeout, the Kings were simply dominating the Mavericks as they were able to generate a 9-2 run to maintain control of the game. The Mavericks opened the quarter by making just three of their first eight attempts while the Kings opened the quarter by making three of their first nine attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks would need to play spectacular basketball for the reminder of the game if they want any chance of coming out with a victory. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dorian Finney-Smith as he was to convert on a three pointer to come within 80-62 of the Kings with 6:27 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were playing with zero energy as their bench had to create some in order to draw something up. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to 80-67 after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a three pointer with 5:25 left in the quarter. The Kings would call a timeout with 4:36 left in the quarter as the Mavericks generated a 10-2 run to trim the Kings lead to 82-69. Prior to this timeout, the Kings offense went asleep as they were on a scoring drought of nearly two minutes until Buddy Hield knocked down a jump shot at the 4:51 mark. Impressive effort by the Mavericks but they would still need more than that if they want to make it a game as the momentum still belonged to the Kings. Coming out of the timeout, the Kings turned to Harrison Barnes but couldn’t convert as he missed a jump shot that kept the score at 82-69 with 4:14 left in the quarter. The Mavericks started to make some noise as Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a three pointer to come within 82-74 of the Kings with 3:36 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Kings were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 87-77 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Harrison Barnes as he scored 23 points for the Kings. The Mavericks were led by Dorian Finney-Smith as he scored 19 points. The Mavericks did make some noise in the quarter by it wasn’t enough to grab control of the game. Through three quarters of play, the Mavericks were shooting 40.9% on 27-of-66 shooting from the field. The Kings were dominating on points in the paint as they were out-scoring the Mavericks 48-28 through three quarters of play. The Mavericks would need to find a way to comeback and win as they have only 12:00 minutes of play to come with something to generate a victory.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Jalen Brunson nail a layup for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Kings weren’t able to get their first points in the quarter until the 0:00 mark by having Terence Davis nail a three pointer to extend their lead to 90-91. The Kings would call a timeout with 9:51 left in the game as the Mavericks were hanging around by trimming their deficit to 90-83. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks started the quarter by generating a quick 6-3 run to remain in the game. The Mavericks started the quarter by making three of their first four attempts while the Kings opened the quarter by making just one of their first four attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks were within distance of the Kings, it would simply come down to defense and getting good quality shots on offense to come away with a victory. Coming out of the timeout, the Kings turned to Delon Wright as he was able to convert on a three pointer to extend their lead to 93-83 with 9:32 left in the game. The Kings were able to extend their lead back to twelve points after Terence Davis knocked down a three pointer to take a 98-86 lead with 8:35 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to trim their deficit to seven points after Luka Doncic knocked down a step-back three pointer to come within 98-91 of the Kings with 7:36 left in the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:43 left in the game to use a “Coach’s Challenge” to review a foul call on Dwight Powell that would send the Kings to the free-throw line. The Mavericks were trailing 98-91 during this situation and were hoping the Officials would overturn the foul and set up a jump ball at mid-court. After the review, the Officials would stick with their original foul call thus costing the Mavericks a timeout as their “Coach’s Challenge” was deemed unsuccessful. After the result, it would send De’Aaron Fox to the free-throw line, where he would nail two free-throws to extend their lead to 100-91 with 6:43 left in the game. The Mavericks would trim their deficit to six points after Jalen Brunson knocked down a three pointer to come within 102-96 of the Kings with 5:38 left in the game. Luka Doncic would be called for a technical foul for arguing with the Officials with 4:25 left in the game in which Harrison Barnes knocked down the “Technical Free-Throw” to extend their lead to 105-98. This was Luka Doncic’s 12th technical foul called on him as he approaches the technical foul limit which would be a one game suspension if he reaches that mark. The Kings would extend their lead to nine points after Terence Davis knocked down a driving layup to extend their lead to 109-100 with 3:56 left in the game. Both teams would then “exchange buckets” as that does not help the Mavericks at all with the Kings holding the lead. The Kings would extend their lead to 113-103 after Maurice Harkless knocked down two free-throws with 2:45 left in the game. The Mavericks would trim their deficit to seven points after Luka Doncic knocked down a step-back three pointer to come within 113-106 of the Kings with 2:32 left in the game. The game would be close as the Mavericks trim their deficit to 113-107 after Luka Doncic knocked down a free-throw with 1:51 left in the game. The game clinching scenario would take place as Delon Wright knocked down two free-throws to extend the Kings lead to 119-107 with 1:02 left in the game that would ultimately do it to secure a victory.

This team looked beyond sloppy and miserable as they Mavericks couldn’t get anything to go down on offense. The Kings were playing like “Kings” as they were ruling the majority of the first half and secured a 67-50 lead at halftime. The Kings looked like they had this game marked down on their calendar as they wanted to make a statement and give their team a good quality win. This was a game that the Mavericks have to have and they would need to scrap their game plan and play basketball with passion. This was a big game for the Mavericks and they needed to win this game to give them any hopes of jump up in the western conference standings to avoid playing in the “Play-In Tournament”.

In the end, it was the Sacramento Kings defeating the Dallas Mavericks 121-107. The Mavericks record would drop to 30-26 on the season as they have now lost five of their last seven games after starting the month of April 3-0. Luka Doncic finished the game with 37 points and 4 assists in the loss. The Kings were led by De’Aaron Fox as he finished with 30 points and 12 assists to snap their nine game losing streak. This was just simply a pathetic performance by the Mavericks as this was a game they were supposed to win but couldn’t get it done. This team looks disastrous as they were falling apart at the wrong time of the season when they need to secure big wins to climb up the western conference standings to avoid playing in the “Play-In Tournament”. The Mavericks are now 0-2 to begin their five game home stand.

The Mavericks will remain at home as the Detroit Pistons come to town to play the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday.