Kings Drop Heartbreaker In Overtime To Mavericks
Aug 4, 2020, 2:45 PM | Updated: Aug 5, 2020, 8:36 am
(Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
The Kings held a lead for almost the entire game until Dallas took over in OT
For the Sacramento Kings, 14 years without the postseason has been–to say the least–a tough pill to swallow.
Tuesday’s game was looking like a complete 180-turnaround from Sunday’s blowout loss to Orlando, with the Kings taking a seven-point lead into the fourth-quarter against the Dallas Mavericks.
All-Star guard Luka Doncic would will the Mavericks back, racking up an eye-popping 34-point, 20-rebound and 12-assist triple-double performance to lead Dallas to a 114-110 win.
Both Richaun Holmes and Kristaps Porzingis fouled out in the closing minutes, leaving each team without their men in the middle for the remainder of the game.
Nobody could score down the stretch for either team, as the score remained tied at 95-95 for the final 1:52 of regulation. De’Aaron Fox’s shot at the buzzer hit back iron and popped out, sending the game into overtime.
The Mavericks and Kings would go back-and-forth in overtime before Doncic and the Mavs would put the game away for good after taking a 109-102 lead with 54 seconds left.
With Tuesday’s loss, Sacramento suffers another brutal blow to its season, falling 3.5 games behind the eighth-seed Memphis Grizzlies and 1.5 games behind the ninth-place Portland Trail Blazers.
While the season isn’t officially over for the Kings, only five games remain in the regular season.
If the team is to make a final push for the ninth-seed spot, they will need help from other teams around the league and a complete effort in the remaining contests.
Things weren’t all bad on Tuesday, at least not at the beginning.
Sacramento burst out of the gates early, hitting four-straight three-pointer’s to aid a 14-6 run to open the first quarter.
The Kings hit nine three-pointer’s in the first-quarter, tying a franchise-record for three’s in a quarter. It’s the third time this season that the team has sunk nine long-balls in a quarter (January 30th against the Los Angeles Clippers and March 7th against the Portland Trail Blazers, per Sacramento Kings Public Relations).
While the Kings kept flirting with pushing the lead into double-digits, they would keep letting Dallas back into the game by allowing the Mavericks to get to the charity stripe.
Dallas shot 50 free-throws on Tuesday–to Sacramento’s 12 attempts.
“All game long they kept going to the foul line. I’ve never seen a 50 free throw game before,” head coach Luke Walton said after the loss. “You put a team on the free throw line 50 times, it’s going to be tough to win that game.”
De’Aaron Fox led all Kings scorers with 28 points. Fox also dished out nine assists, grabbed three rebounds and swiped two steals in the loss.
Buddy Hield shook off a rocky first two appearances on Tuesday, scoring 21 points to go along with four rebounds. Kent Bazemore scored 16 points off of the bench, while Nemanja Bjelica scored 12 points.
Like Hield in the first two games, Bogdan Bogdanovic struggled from the field, failing to hit his first field goal until there was under a minute remaining in overtime.
The third-year guard finished one-of-15 from the field, scoring three points to go along with two assists.
Coming Up
In what will likely be the closest thing to a “win or go home” game that we have seen this season, the Kings will be back in action on Thursday morning when they face the New Orleans Pelicans.
With a win, Sacramento could place themselves back to within striking distance for the final four-game stretch. If the Kings lose, the possibility of making the postseason would in all likelihood be a prayer.
Sacramento lost its only matchup against the Pelicans this season back on January 4th when J.J. Reddick’s last-second shot gave New Orleans a 117-115 win.
Be sure to catch all of the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, with pregame coverage beginning at 10:00am PST with tip-off following at 10:30am PST.
