The Dallas Mavericks won their fourth straight game on Saturday night, beating the Sacramento Kings 114–113 at home. Spencer Dinwddie led the Mavericks with 36 points and 7 assists. De’Aaron Fox scored 44 points in a loss to the Kings.
Playing without Luka Doncic and with odd starting times, the Mavericks looked sluggish and lost early on at both ends of the court. Dallas eventually found some offense but couldn’t stop the Kings and was down 36–26 after the quarter. The Dallas defense was inactive in the second frame as several Mavericks fouled the rules. This forced Jason Kidd to go very small, and despite finally extending the Kings’ lead considerably, Dallas turned down the signal by beating three De’Aaron Foxes to go 65–51 at halftime.
Dallas finally caught up in the third quarter, making several stops in the second half of the period and giving Sacramento a five-point lead several times. In the last second, the Kings’ lead extended to seven, and the Mavericks entered the final quarter 92–85. The Mavericks finally took a quarter-minute lead, but the remainder of the frame was a furious back-and-forth struggle highlighted by leadership changes, terrible refereeing, and big game after big game. After losing by 7 with 2:55 left, Dallas broke into the lead with 46 seconds left with Dinwiddie laying in the game. left, and after a too-late layup, Dallas left with a 114–113 lead.
The hallmark of the 2022 Mavericks has been a commitment to defense. Although it waxed and waned at times, they managed to tie up a solid defense often enough to get them out of games they had lost in the past. Although they trailed the Kings by 65 points in the first half and faced many foul issues and a short bench, they flexed in the second half and held the Kings to 48 points, including 21 in the fourth.
Watching Dinwiddie play basketball is a delight. While there’s some reason to say he’s got a damn good streak, I don’t particularly care because the Mavericks are winning. Dinwiddie’s drive once again kept Dallas in this game, as well as his line entry (13 free throw attempts). His 36 points in just 22 tries is really impressive.
Combining that with Jalen Brunson’s consistency, the Mavericks found a way to get through the game without Luka Doncic. While I think we’d all like to see Brunson shoot more 3s when he’s open, his sassy rushing game and driving ability has given the Mavericks that great winning image of Dorian Finney-Smith. In total, they scored 58 points and 13 assists, as well as 18 free throws. It was a great performance in the backyard.
It’s important to note this right off the bat: Josh Green was the key spark in both that comeback win and last Sunday against the Warriors. His energy can lead to additional possessions and it seems like the other teams (and sometimes the Mavericks themselves) have no idea what he’s going to do. According to the broadcast, he recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Six of those boards were offensive, and in a game where the Kings beat Dallas on rebounds, that was very important.
First-class analysis, I know. But I want to mention it again as Dorian was on fire and it helps the Mavericks when they need it the most. Finney-Smith hit three in the opening minutes of the fourth and then missed the next five shots. Now those longtime Mavs fans know there are games where Dorian throws five times, so five misses in a quarter seemed like a harbinger. He then pressed three to take Dallas out to within one at the 1:14 mark and then won the game with 3.8 seconds left. Just amazing basketball.
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