Keon Ellis Addresses Season-Best Performance in Kings' Win vs. Mavericks

The Sacramento Kings entered their matinee showdown against the Dallas Mavericks down three starters, as Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray were all out with injuries. Coach Doug Christie went with Keon Ellis in Murray’s place in the starting lineup, alongside Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan, Precious Achiuwa and Maxime Raynaud.

Starting Ellis turned out to be the right decision, as Sacramento beat the Mavericks 113-107, spoiling Cooper Flagg’s Sacramento debut and moving to 8-23 on the season.

Ellis himself did not disappoint. The third-year wing scored 21 points on 8-15 (5-10 3PT), adding 3 steals and 2 blocks in 32 minutes. The performance is exactly what fans have come to expect from the third-year wing. He was hitting threes and playing strong perimeter defense, consistently finding himself in passing lanes, creating more opportunities for Sacramento.

Kings Keon Ellis 21 PTS (8-15 FG, 5-10 3P), 1 REB, 3 STL, 2 BLK, +11 (team-high) in 32 minutes vs. Mavs https://t.co/4JKepwZkGq pic.twitter.com/NJp5i1pOhv
— Role Player Performances (@BenchHighlights) December 28, 2025

21 points was a season high for Ellis, 13 of which came in the first quarter. After the game, Ellis noted that “when the first opportunity you get is a three, and it goes in, it’s kind of easy to get into the flow of the game… and the energy is going from there.”

Considering that Ellis has made just two starts this season coming into this game, it was great to see him open the game, hitting shots - both for the team and for himself mentally. A cold stretch saw Ellis, a career 42% three-point shooter, fall to just 35% this season. Going 5-10 had to feel good.

Keon Ellis shares his observations of the Kings 113-107 win over the Mavericks, getting inserted into the starting rotation given the injury to Keegan Murray & the 32 minutes of action he received after having his playing time fluctuate most of the season. pic.twitter.com/DDOLF53Y8h
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) December 28, 2025

Ellis comments on his recent role with Kings

The questions got more serious as his postgame presser went on, culminating in one about Ellis’s frustration level regarding his contract situation since the summer. The young wing cracked a smile about halfway through the question and ended up giving a relatively thoughtful (albeit slightly off-topic) answer.

Ellis addressed his contract situation and his role over the last few months.

“I won’t say [about the contract situation], but it’s just day by day,” Ellis said. “So, from the previous couple games where you don’t know what the minutes are going to look like, to tonight where you start and have a game like this… I won’t sit and think back on this one too much because, how the season’s been going, you just never really know. We’ll see how everything goes moving forward.”

Nov 26, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) reacts to a call during the first quarter of the game against the Phoenix Suns at Golden 1 Center. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Ellis avoided the contract portion of the question (the smile at the mention of frustration regarding the topic was interesting), but analyzes his role well - the only consistent thing about his role this season has been the inconsistency.

His reference to the previous couple of games when he didn’t know what the minutes were looking like is puzzling, considering that, just five games ago, the team began giving guard Malik Monk the DNP-CDs that were going to Ellis at one point, noting they were going to give other guys a look.

One would assume that meant Ellis would get a consistent run, but he has logged more than ten minutes just twice (including this game) since that change.

Ideally, this opportunity is a sign of things to come as Ellis looks to get in a rhythm and the Kings look to build their team in the defensive-focused image that Scott Perry and Doug Christie have for their iteration of Kings basketball. Sacramento looks to keep the momentum rolling Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ellis comments on his recent role with Kings

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