In Sacramento, California, On Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings 132-96 thanks to 26 of Luka Doncic's 28 points in the first half. This victory gave the Mavericks their fifth consecutive victory. Both the Mavericks and the Kings are vying for a spot in the Western Conference playoffs; with Doncic's contributions of 11 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals, the Mavericks jumped to sixth place, one game ahead of the Kings.
The plays for each other, on both the offensive and defensive sides, were at a high level, according to Dallas coach Jason Kidd. "We're simply attempting to make the most of the situation by playing the current game and improving with the one possession we have."
Off the bench, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points and dished out 6 assists, while Kyrie Irving poured in 24 points and 8 assists. P.J. Washington set a new career best with 14 points and 13 boards.
"We were successful tonight," Washington announced. We rallied nicely. Our defense was outstanding for the first half. So, I'm pleased. The Kings were led by De'Aaron Fox, who scored 18 points despite shooting just 6-for-18 from the field. Keegan Murray got 17 more.
With his 55th consecutive double-double, Domantas Sabonis tied Jerry Lucas for the longest streak in franchise history with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. "Fox and Sabonis are All-Stars," Kidd remarked. We merely aimed to create difficulty for them. Everyone, we need to work together. It's not a single individual. It seems like the guys carried out the strategy.
Doncic contributed to Dallas' 58-53 halftime advantage with 19 points in the second quarter. The lead was 89-65 with 4 minutes and thirty-one seconds remaining in the third quarter after the Mavericks went on a 22-4 run. After a second half in which Dallas outscored Sacramento 74-43, the lead increased to 39 points in the fourth.
After halftime, Fox felt the team played terrible. "It was likely one of our poorest half-games of the whole season," he said. The Mavericks had a season-high shooting percentage of 55.4% and a mark of 56.4% from beyond the arc, making 22 of 39 attempts.
Without scoring 100 points, Sacramento dropped to 0-9 as their shooting percentage dropped to 38.9%. Kings coach Mike Brown was surprised by his team's performance offensively after watching them play tonight. "Some easy baskets for them were led to by our offense tonight."
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