Buzzer Bummer: Porzingis, Brunson Lead Mavs, But Lose Late at Kings
Coming off an explosive road win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks came into Wednesday night's game against the Sacramento Kings hoping for similar results from the first time the two teams met this season. Back in October, Luka Doncic led the Mavs to a very close win over the Kings in Dallas.
However, the tables were turned in this matchup, as the Kings downed the Mavs at the final buzzer, winning 95-94.
With Doncic missing his ninth game in a row, Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson led the Mavs in this one, scoring 24 and 25 points, respectively. Porzingis also chipped in with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks, and Brunson dished out six assists of his own.
"Not our best performance, and that’s on us,” said Porzingis. “We take full responsibility and what we’ve got to do is take this loss, take this feeling — this feeling that sucks — and take it and use it as fuel for the next game."
After getting out to a very hot three-point shooting start, the Mavs led the Kings 30-20 after the first quarter. However, Sacramento flipped the script in the second quarter, outscoring Dallas 35-13 in the period and carrying a 55-43 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The game seesawed yet again in the third quarter, as the Mavs' defense tightened up and cut the Kings’ 12-point lead to three points heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, there was a lot more balance, as both teams went shot-for-shot until the final buzzer. The Mavs led 94-92 with three seconds left in the game, but a buzzer-beating three by Chimezie Metu.
Coincidently, the Mavs also lost on a buzzer-beating three-pointer 10 years ago against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Drowned out by all the late-game drama was the results of Isaiah Thomas' Mavericks debut. After being signed just four hours before tip-off, Thomas put up six points on 3-of-8 shooting in 13 minutes of action. He also dished out four assists. Who knows if Thomas will stick around past this current 10-day contract, but all that matters right now for the Mavs is just having enough bodies to keep from having postponements.
“You’ve got to find who’s available and who’s closest," said head coach Jason Kidd.
It just so happened that Thomas fit that description when the Mavs made it to California.
Next up, the Mavs and Kings will do it all over again on Friday night in Sacramento, although that game will start four and a half hours earlier at 5 p.m. central time. It will be Dallas' fourth game of a five-game road trip. The Mavs will finish up the long road trip on Sunday against the Thunder.
Cary Edmondson/USA Today Sports
