SACRAMENTO — For a moment, it appeared as if the Mavericks would ride Cooper Flagg’s explosive third quarter to a miraculous comeback win over the Sacramento Kings.
Momentum shifted in their favor thanks to a trio of 3-pointers by the Mavericks rookie, but Sacramento weathered the storm and ended the period with a 17-9 run to get back into the driver’s seat.
It was just enough for the Kings, who entered with the worst record in the Western Conference, to maintain enough separation to hand the Mavericks a 113-107 loss Saturday evening.
After trailing by as many as 18, the Mavericks cut the deficit to five after Flagg connected on a floater with 1:49 left. However, Dallas allowed Dylan Cardwell to score an easy layup on the other side of the court, which ended any chance of a comeback.
Mavericks
The Mavericks ended the Kings’ season the last time they were at Golden 1 Center in April, when they eliminated Sacramento from the play-in tournament. The stakes weren’t nearly as high, but the crowd fed off of their energy and cheered for every positive play made by the home team.
The Mavericks didn’t have their 3-point shooting struggles on Saturday. They connected on 13 of 26, a significant improvement from their 4-of-14 night in Thursday’s loss to the Warriors. Turnovers were rooted in this loss. The Mavericks coughed the ball up 19 times, which led to 28 points for the Kings.
“We just didn’t come out with great energy,” Flagg said. “Our starter guys gotta be better with that, getting us off to a great start, me included. Obviously, I had a terrible first half. But not a lot of energy for us. We gotta be better coming out ready to play. I think that’s a big part of it.”
Flagg’s third quarter was nearly perfect, but his first half was a reason why Dallas found itself stuck in a double-digit hole. He had four of his five turnovers before halftime and scored just four points without making a field goal.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said his message to not just Flagg, but to the entire team that the schedule was no excuse for the lack of effort and attention to detail to start the game. Flagg said the halftime break gave him an opportunity to refocus his mind.
“Just resetting,” Flagg said. “Knowing I just gotta be a lot better and reflecting. Thinking about the way they were guarding certain actions and what I can do to get better. Sometimes, all it takes is somebody saying something or kind of having like a mental reset.”
Dallas built some momentum late in the game, but the final turnover of the game was an offensive foul by PJ Washington with 41.7 seconds left in a situation when the Mavericks could’ve cut the deficit to two or three points. Kidd challenged the call, but was unsuccessful. The officials deemed Washington used his off arm to push DeMar DeRozan.
Washington had 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks, which tied a season-high.
Before the game, Kidd discussed the legacy of Sacramento Kings point guard Russell Westbrook, who could one day find himself in the Hall of Fame.
“Filling up the stat sheet at the age 37, it’s incredible what he’s doing,” Kidd said.
Westbrook was one of the main reasons why the Kings were able to hand the Mavericks their latest loss. The veteran point guard had his fingerprints on every part of the floor, finishing with 21 points, five rebounds and nine assists. Keon Ellis added 21 points on 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. Maxime Raynaud added 19 points and six rebounds.
Saturday marked the Mavericks’ latest test without Anthony Davis, who missed the game with right adductor soreness. Davis played just 10 minutes on Christmas Day before leaving the game in the second quarter. Dallas is now 4-13 this season without Davis in the lineup.
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“Hopefully it’s not long,” Kidd said. “He’s doing better, but we’ll see here in the next couple days of how long he’ll be out.”
Without Davis, Kidd re-inserted Daniel Gafford into the starting lineup, alongside Flagg, Ryan Nembhard, Washington and Max Christie. Naji Marshall, who started the last 12 games, returned to the second unit.
However, with the Mavericks in a 15-point hole at halftime, Kidd started the second half with Marshall instead of Nembhard. Flagg moved to the point guard position, leading to his best shooting quarter of the season.
Kidd was asked about the decision to change his lineup following halftime, citing the group gave the Mavericks an opportunity to get back into the game.
Flagg scored 15 of his 23 points in the third quarter, which was the most points he’s recorded in a quarter this season. He made five of his six shot attempts, all three of his attempts from beyond the arc and both free throws.
“He did not get off to a good start and it happens in this league,” Kidd said. “For a young man like himself, there’s a second half to be played and he got going there. [He had] turnovers early on, but he made the adjustment at halftime and put us a position to get back into the game.”
The Mavericks will return to Sacramento for a rematch on Jan. 6, but they’ll look to rebound first on Monday in Portland in their final game of the calendar year.
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