The Dallas Mavericks made it two wins in a row by sneaking past the Sacramento Kings 100-98 at Golden 1 Center on Tuesday. The Mavericks seemed headed to another defeat at the hands of this lowly Kings team when they were down 12 points in the second quarter, but were able to turn things around.
Rookie Cooper Flagg continues to impress for the Mavericks, recording 20 points (8-15 FG), eight rebounds, six assists, and one steal. Star big man Anthony Davis also chipped in with 19 points (7-23 FG), 16 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. It wasn’t a great offensive night by any means for Davis, but he was at least active on the glass for a Mavericks team that is now 14-23 on the season.
DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Kings with 21 points (8-18 FG), two rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block. The shots weren’t going in for DeRozan for much of the night, but he made two huge baskets in the clutch to give his team the lead, but they weren’t able to hold on. The Kings have now lost six in a row since beating the Mavericks on Dec. 27, 2025, to drop to 8-29.
Poor Offensive Showings On Both Ends
This was a clash between two of the worst offensive teams in the NBA, and it should come as no surprise then that they both struggled here.
The Kings had a 108.3 offensive rating coming into this game, the worst in the NBA. They went 39-92 (42.4%) from the field and 9-31 (29.0%) from beyond the arc here.
The Kings had 35 points in the first quarter here, but managed just 40 in the entire second half. Their execution down the stretch just wasn’t good enough. The Kings were down two with under 30 seconds remaining, and their next two shots were three-pointers by Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook. They both missed, and those are definitely not the shots you want them to be taking.
As for the Mavericks, they came in with a 109.4 offensive rating, which ranked 28th. They were 39-96 (40.6%) from the field and 8-27 (29.6%) from beyond the arc. You’re not going to win too many games in which you shoot that poorly, but they were fortunately taking on the Kings here.
Mavericks Limit Kings’ Fast Break Opportunities In The Second Half
A big reason why the Kings were having some success offensively in the first half was that they were getting easy baskets in transition. Of the 58 points they had at halftime, 22 were fast-break points. That’s close to half their tally. Even the bad offensive teams will be able to rack up points if you allow them to run at unsettled defenses.
The Mavericks managed to tighten the ship after the break, and the Kings’ offense promptly struggled. The hosts only had eight fast break points in the second half. With those easy opportunities drying up, the Kings went 17-45 (37.8%) from the field in the final two quarters.
The Mavericks also managed to create plenty of fast-break points for themselves in the second half. They had 14 of those after having just five in the first.
Offensive Rebounds Hurt The Kings
The last thing you want to do in a game where both teams are struggling to score is allow your opponent to have too many extra opportunities with offensive rebounds. That’s exactly what the Kings did here.
The Mavericks had a 15-8 advantage in offensive rebounds, and they did most of their damage in the second half. The hosts had five offensive rebounds each in the third and fourth quarters, and those led to 12 second-chance points.
The Kings, meanwhile, had zero second-chance points after halftime. So, when you’re not getting easy buckets off the glass or on the break, it’s easy to explain why you only scored 40 points in the entire second half.
Brandon Williams Comes Up Big Again
Brandon Williams made a couple of questionable decisions on the night, but had another good outing overall. Williams finished with 18 points (7-13 FG), two rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench. He ended up hitting what ultimately became the game-winner by drilling a three from the corner to put the Mavericks up 100-98 with 33.3 seconds remaining.
That wasn’t the right shot in that moment by any means for the Mavericks, as Williams came into this game shooting 18.8% from three. Still, he made it, so all was well.
Williams is now averaging 19.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.0 steals over his last five games while shooting 58.1% from the field. He has been a big bright spot lately.
