Breaking News:Luka Doncic just sacked his agent after little misunderstanding
The Dallas Mavericks (42-29) continue their pivotal five-game Western Conference road swing Tuesday with the first of two straight games against the Sacramento Kings (42-29) at the Golden 1 Center. This first one on Tuesday might as well be the biggest game of the year, as the Mavs and the Kings are tied at sixth in the west standings, with Sacramento having won the first two matchups between the two teams this season.
Even with the Kings holding all sorts of tiebreaker advantages with Dallas, a split in these two games isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If the two teams are still tied in the standings after Friday’s rematch, Dallas has an easier nine-game stretch to finish the season than does Sacramento. A split keeps hope alive for the six-seed.
Dallas has rattled off wins in eight of their last nine games, but the Kings aren’t far behind that mark with wins in eight of their last 11. The Kings will have both home court and the advantage of a day’s rest over the Mavericks, as they last played Monday in a 108-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. It looks like Tuesday’s game will be the more difficult of the two for the Mavs to win.
Here are two things the Mavericks need to do to surprise a few people and slide ahead of the Kings into sole possession of sixth place:
The Mavs are giving up just 110 points per game in their last 10. They have held three opponents in that stretch to under 100 points and allowed over 120 points just twice.
Dončić is leaving it all out there, and not just on the offensive end. He’s seventh in the league at 1.5 steals per game and is much more disruptive since the All-Star break than he’s ever been in his career.
Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II have steadied the Mavericks’ defense in the lane by altering shots and helping on the boards to hold opponents to one shot per possession. The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, though, provides one of the most unique challenges in the league for opposing big men. His mid-range game, ball-handling and passing skills make him a sub-optimal matchup for both Gafford and Lively.
They just don’t have the lateral quickness in one-on-one scenarios to keep Sabonis in front of them at all times, so it will be interesting to see how the Mavs handle him. Both of the losses to Sacramento in the first half of the season came before the trade-deadline acquisitions of Gafford and P.J. Washington.