Kyrie Irving 'Gets Party Started,' But Luka Doncic & Mavs Lose in OT at Kings
SACRAMENTO — The Dallas Mavericks' new superstar duo, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, made its debut against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. The Mavs fell short 133-128 in OT in the second part of a two-game mini-series, dropping their record to 31-27 on the season. Meanwhile, the Kings improved to 32-24.
The Mavs ended with a trio of 20-point scorers. Irving led with 28 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Luka Doncic racked up 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Lastly, Green finished with 23 points and five rebounds.
"It felt special,'' Irving said of his dynamic-duo debut with Luka Doncic. "“Let’s just get this party started.''
To open the game, there was a concerted effort from the Mavs to work the ball around, but Luka Doncic ended the period with 11 points and three assists. Irving was settling into the game and had just two points. Dallas trailed 34-32 at the end of the first quarter as they struggled to contain the Kings in the paint, allowing 22 points from that area in the period.
There was slippage from the Mavs defensively early in the second quarter, often allowing the Kings to run the floor for easy buckets and early offense. With Doncic and Irving on the court to close out the half, the Mavs pulled off a 16-2 run. Irving dropped in a quick trigger 3 in the corner in transition with just 0.1 seconds left in the period to overtake the lead.
After halftime, it was announced that Tim Hardaway Jr. would not return to the game due to a hamstring injury. Reggie Bullock was his replacement in the lineup. The Mavs often utilized Bullock to ball screen for Doncic to get a mismatch and play advantage basketball. Flowing into high pick-and-roll allowed Irving to attack at times, too. The offense slowed down toward the end of the period with Irving on the bench, but the Mavs still maintained an 88-76 advantage.
Irving began the fourth quarter with Doncic still on the sidelines. During that stretch, Christian Wood provided a spark early in the period scoring seven straight points. Both teams continued to trade blows as the game winded down. The Mavs often played out of the post in clutch time.
De'Aaron Fox made a momentum swinging turnover with under two minutes by jumping a pass, leading to a wide open dunk. The Kings took a 112-111 lead as a result. While he missed one, Dwight Powell's free throw shooting down the stretch proved key as he went 3-4 on his attempts in clutch time. After failing to stop Domantas Sabonis in the paint, the game went to overtime. Fox had a chance to win it with a pull-up 3 but was unable to convert.
Fox scored four consecutive points to five the Kings a 121-117 lead, both attacking downhill and using his short-range game. Irving answered back quickly with a bucket on a drive of his own. Fox and Irving traded made two-point field goals once again on the following plays. It was Fox again that steadied things for the Kings by getting to the free throw line and converting both.
Irving drew a major crowd on a drive before making a slick dropoff pass to Powell to cut the deficit to 125-123 with 55.2 seconds left. After losing a jump ball, the Mavs gave up an offensive rebound, which ended in a Kevin Huerter layup.
Irving converted a tough fallaway 3-pointer to cut to one with around 20 seconds left. Fox was sent to the free throw line with 18.4 seconds left and made both. Doncic had a chance to tie the game on a step-back 3-pointer, but his attempt was offline with 14.0 seconds remaining. The Kings closed it out from that point on.
“With Kai reading the situation, he gave the ball to Luka," coach Jason Kidd said. "Look, a lot of times he can make those shots. It was a read between Kai and LD. For the first time to be together on both ends, I thought we did a really good job.”
Doncic had a slightly different take on that final sequence.
“It’s my bad. Should have gave it back to Kai," Doncic said. "For me, it’s still a learning process. But for sure, I should have gave it back. He was really hot down the stretch, so that was on me for sure.”
It was another game where the Mavs proved unable to contain Fox, who finished with 34 points and five assists. Domantas Sabonis gave Dallas fits, too, totaling 22 points, 14 rebounds, and two assists. Sacramento totaled a staggering 74 points in the paint and 24 fast break points.
The Mavs ended with a trio of 20-point scorers. Irving led with 28 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Doncic racked up 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Lastly, Green finished with 23 points and five rebounds.
"Amazing, man," Doncic said of his first time playing alongside Irving. "It was only our first game together. I think it's so fun to play with this guy. He's an amazing basketball player. I think it's going to be really fun. Today, first time, it was really fun."
Next up for the Mavs is a matchup on Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves — their only remaining game at the American Airlines Center before the NBA All-Star break.
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