The Dallas Mavericks proved why they should be taken seriously as an NBA title contender with Friday night's win over the Sacramento Kings.
The Mavs, who defeated the Kings by 36 points on Tuesday, got the best punch from Sacramento in Friday's rematch, and at one point trailed by 15 points. But Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Mavs' supporting cast came together to pull it off and win 107-103, putting them 1.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference. Rank.
March 29, 2024. Sacramento, California, USA.Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) raises his arms.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Irving led the way with 30 points (14 in the fourth quarter alone) on 11-for-16 from the field and 3-for-5 from deep. Doncic wasn't far behind him either, with 26 points, nine rebounds, and 12 assists on just six shots. -14 overall, 4-8 from deep. However, it was the timely play of several key role players, particularly Dante Exum, that helped Dallas cross the goal line.
After missing three consecutive shots in the fourth quarter, Exum made his fourth, making the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.1 seconds left to give the Mavs a 106-103 lead and the winning bucket. . The Mavs' confidence in Exum to take that shot after his previous three downs shows just how special this roster is as the playoffs approach.
“It's great, it speaks to the confidence of our team. We know they're going to double me and Kai over and over again. That's the confidence of us, the whole team,” Doncic said. He talked about Exum's clutch 3-point shooting.
“It shows that our team is great. We're having fun out there. I think we played badly today, but we were still able to get the win. Outside of Kai. Kai was great. We missed a lot of open shots, but we were still able to win. So that's amazing.”
With this win, the Mavs improved to 44-29 with nine games remaining in the regular season. Dallas has now won 10 of its last 11 games, with its only loss during that span coming on the second night of back-to-back games in Oklahoma City, a game Doncic did not play. The Mavs are currently 12-0. When the trio of Doncic, Irving and Daniel Gafford started together.
We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but we're starting to see things from the Mavs that we haven't seen since they won the NBA Championship in 2011. Even during their run to the West Finals in 2022, that was never really the case. I felt he could go all the way because the Mavs lack depth in the frontcourt. But now, with Dallas fielding a complete roster with few holes and a healthy Doncic and Irving leading the way, this team is more than capable of going the distance.
