The Dallas Mavericks have kept their playoff hopes alive with a 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings. The Kings see their season come to an unceremonious conclusion at home while the Mavericks hope they can challenge the Memphis Grizzlies in the final Play-In game to seal the No. 8 seed.
Anthony Davis led the Mavericks with 27 points (9-23 FG), nine rebounds, and three blocks, but the star of the night was Klay Thompson, who avenged his 0-10 performance against the Kings in the Play-In last year with 23 points (8-11 FG). Recent signing Brandon Williams came off the bench for 17 points (5-8 FG) and five assists, while PJ Washington put up 17 points (5-15 FG) and nine rebounds.
“The Mavericks are so enormous. I don’t see how this works against teams that are not as bad defensively as the Kings but man it must suck to play against a team this big,” said one fan about the Mavericks’ x-factor.
“Mavericks looking at the Kings paint defense,” said a fan while sharing a hilarious video of Shannon Sharpe naming food.
“The Mavericks traded away a generational player, which led to their GM getting death threats. Lost their HOF PG to a knee injury, had no center for a month, currently don’t have a PG on their active roster, and yet they’re murdering the Kings in an elimination game tonight,” said one fan about the Mavs’ resolve.
“The Kings have quietly had an extremely dysfunctional season we’ve just ignored it because a few other teams, most notably the Mavericks, have had significantly more dysfunctional seasons,” said one fan about the weird situations for both teams this season.
“Mavs running double-drag with their entire frontcourt is just wild to see. Their sheer size is popping right now,” said another fan worried about the Mavs’ size.
“This version of the Mavericks is gonna make the Grizzlies look silly,” said another fan picking Dallas to secure the No. 8 seed.
The Kings had DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine give it their all in tonight’s loss. DeRozan had 33 points (13-28 FG) with seven rebounds, while former Bulls’ teammate LaVine put up 20 points (8-19 FG) and nine assists. Their franchise superstar was missing, as Domantas Sabonis had a disappointing 11 points (5-13 FG) and 13 rebounds in the loss.
The Kings’ season has ended, but the Mavericks will stay alive and face the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed. Memphis will likely have a limited Ja Morant leading them after he suffered an ankle injury in his last game, giving Dallas an edge with their size and shooting ability.
The Mavericks won three regular-season games against the OKC Thunder, so they’ll fancy their chances of pulling off a historic first-round upset against the best team in the NBA if they manage to sneak into the Playoffs.
