Kings with fourth straight, defeat Mavs 122-98

The Sacramento Kings easily handled the injury-riddled Mavericks, leaving Dallas with a 122-98 win, their fourth in a row.

BY BRENDEN NUNES

Mar 3, 2025, 7:54 PM Updated: 8:00 pm

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Watch: Zach LaVine's Future In Sacramento What's Next | 1 min

With Domantas Sabonis sidelined for at least a week, Jonas Valanciunas got his first start as a Sacramento Kings member Monday night as they took on the Dallas Mavericks in American Airlines Arena.

Dallas was without Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, and Caleb Martin, as they have been for some time now. Kyrie Irving had risen the occasion amid the slew of absences, but a scary fall in the opening quarter left him unavailable.

Sacramento quickly blew a double-digit halftime lead into 30+ points in the third quarter and never looked back from there, with their deeper bench pieces getting an opportunity to see the floor in the closing moments.

LaVine tallied a game-high 22 points on 8/12 shooting, including 4/5 from three, while DeRozan (20) and Murray (18) significantly added to their point tally as well.

They end the night with a 52.2 percent conversion rate from the field, including 47.1 percent (16/34) from three. Meanwhile, Dallas was held to 45.5 percent while committing 13 turnovers.

Kings at Mavericks Game Notes

Without Sabonis, Valanciunas was awarded the start alongside Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Keegan Murray. Having started countless games in recent years and being someone who often seamlessly fits, it didn’t seem to be much of an adjustment for Sacramento.

Murray came out aggressive, appearing to have a different offensive mindset post All-Star break. He tallide eight points on 3/4 shooting as his team jumped out to a 21-14 start.

Keegan from downtown ☔️

pic.twitter.com/7oMHPViDZQ

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 4, 2025

Irving collapsed to the floor with an apparent right knee injury at the 2:35 mark of the first and could not return.

There seemed to be something in the air after Monk went to the locker room before the buzzer signified the first break.

Given the injury breaks, the first 12 minutes of game time crawled along before concluding with Sacramento holding a 27-24 lead. Murray was aggressive, and DeRozan and LaVine got their usual tough buckets. Valancius and Keon Ellis helped plug the holes.

When the Kings’ big man headed to the bench, interim head coach Doug Christie left Murray, Jake LaRavia, and Trey Lyles responsible for protecting the rim as a group — a much easier task without Irving on the floor.

Dallas was forced to more heavily rely upon Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy to create from the perimeter, while Kai Jones, who signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks earlier that day, logged notable minutes.

It just speaks to the shorthanded nature that the home team was facing. While that obviously played in Sacramento’s favor, they still had to take care of their side of the bargain.

They did just that. LaVine made his way into double-digit points (11) at the 6:15 mark of the second, with the Kings taking their first double-digit advantage of the night.

Monk returned to action later in the second, a positive sign for his bill of health after exiting earlier.

DeRozan, who had 42 points in Dallas just three weeks ago, broke into a scoring burst by tallying eight straight points for his side.

The six-time All-Star scored eight of Sacramento’s final 10 points, taking them into halftime with a 62-50 lead while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three.

Having struggled to put teams away, Monday night was a different story for Sacramento. It didn’t take long into the third for the starting unit to put together a 22-6 run, extending their advantage to 25 points.

Dallas could never recover from there, recording 16 points compared to the Kings’ 34 in the third. Dinwiddie, Hardy, and crew were unable to create reliably from the perimeter as the defense from Christie’s group didn’t make life easy.

The fourth quarter featured Skal Labissiere playing in his first NBA game this season after being signed to a 10-day deal following Sabonis’s injury.

What a path for Skal Labissiere, logging minutes tonight as a 10-day signing with the very team he began his NBA career back in 2016. Tonight, his first NBA action since May 14, 2019.

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) March 4, 2025

Monk was the only starter who participated in the final frame, checking out with a 103-72 advantage at the 8:35 mark. None of the third-string players let up either, leading to an eventual 122-98 Monday night win for the Kings in Dallas.

LaVine tallied a game-high 22 points on 8/12 shooting, including 4/5 from three, while DeRozan (20) and Murray (18) significantly added to their point tally as well.

They end the night with a 52.2 percent conversion rate from the field, including 47.1 percent (16/34) from three. Meanwhile, Dallas was held to 45.5 percent while committing 13 turnovers.

Sacramento improves to 31-28 on the season- 19-10 under Christie- improving their Western Conference standing to a tie for seventh place with the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves.