The Dallas Mavericks (4-3) fell to the Sacramento Kings (1-6), 115-100, in a Monday night matchup at the American Airlines Center. The game against the previously winless Kings followed the Mavericks’ Friday night win in Game 1 of NBA Cup group play. Dallas was unable to overcome night in the freezer on offense against a Kings team that was desperately seeking its first win on Monday.
Kyrie Irving was ruled out early Monday evening due to left knee injury management. Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic,
Sergio de Larrea, and Dereck Lively were also out for the Mavericks. Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud, and Dylan Cardwell were the notable players absent from the Kings.
Walter Clayton Jr. and Daniel Gafford led the Mavericks with 20 points apiece. Darius Acuff led all scorers with 25 points for the Kings.
Mavericks head coach Dusty May decided to go with a no-guard starting lineup, inserting Caleb Martin into the first five with Irving’s absence. The game started slowly for both teams, with both squads struggling to get their offense going in the first quarter. Dallas played 10 of the first 12 minutes of the first quarter without a point guard in the lineup, and the offense struggled as a result. The Mavericks finished the first period down 19-18 in a game that was quickly devolving into a snooze fest.
The Mavericks entered the second quarter more inspired, finally getting shots to fall behind Daniel Gafford shots at the rim. Once Cooper Flagg got going, the Mavericks gave themselves a little breathing room from the Kings. Walter Clayton gave Dallas the offensive boost it needed in the second period, but the Mavericks were unable to string together enough stops to separate themselves from the Kings.
Morez Johnson Jr. was a bright spot in this quarter for the Mavericks, playing aggressively on the glass and imposing his strength, getting to the foul line on three occasions. Sacramento punched back behind a string of buckets from Malik Monk, and the Mavericks walked into the intermission with the same deficit they faced after the first quarter, down 54-53.
Clayton started the second half for the Mavericks after it was announced that Max Christie would not be returning to the game due to a hip injury. Dallas entered the third quarter as slowly as they played the first half, struggling to get the offense going in any capacity. The Mavericks continued to try to claw their way out of the hole they found themselves in, but entered the final quarter down 81-74.
Dallas continued to struggle throughout the fourth quarter, with Clayton being the only Maverick to see shots fall late. Darius Acuff and Malik Monk continued to take advantage of the Mavericks’ defensive missteps, completely shifting the momentum in the Kings’ favor. The Mavericks were ultimately unable to dig themselves out of the deficit they faced all game, falling 115-100.
Here are three takeaways from tonight’s loss.
Dallas’ offensive woes
When it was announced that Irving would be out for tonight’s matchup, concerns arose regarding how the Mavericks offense would operate in his absence. Naji Marshall struggled in his return tonight after missing the last three games due to an illness. Christie continued to make no impact before leaving the game with that hip injury. The Mavs tried to shoot themselves out of their offensive struggles, to no success, finishing 7-of-33 from behind the arc.
The Mavericks are going to need more from guys like Marshall and PJ Washington when Irving is out, or they will continue to struggle in games where Dallas decides to rest Irving. Clayton stepped up when the Mavericks needed offensive contributions, but the Mavericks cannot depend on a two-way player every night.
“Shots weren’t falling, and it kind of got in our head,” Gafford said in a televised portion of his postgame press conference. “They wanted it more than we did. The energy was a little low.”
Morez Johnson Jr.
Morez Johnson Jr. set a career-high in points tonight, with 13 points, and added two rebounds. Johnson was a bright spot in tonight’s game, holding his own against Domantas Sabonis and Precious Achiuwa. He played physically, grabbing two offensive rebounds to lead to extra possessions for the Mavericks. He was also able to exert his strength to get to the foul line, though he shot 3-of-6 from the charity stripe. The ninth pick in the 2026 NBA Draft played more comfortably tonight and kept his foul count low again tonight, a pain point for him in the first several games for the Mavericks. Coach May gave insight into how he has coached Johnson before tonight’s game.
Johnson highlighted this tonight, fighting on the glass and playing physically in the paint. Johnson will grow as a player if he continues to do the little things like he did tonight.
Not a Cooper Flagg performance to remember
Cooper Flagg struggled against the Kings following his 33-point performance against the Rockets on Friday. He finished with 17 points on 3-of-19 from the field. Flagg struggled to take over offensively in Irving’s absence. He was able to get to the free-throw line at a high volume, but failed to see his shots fall all night long. Luckily, this will be one of the worst performances we see from him. Dallas was unable to provide any contributions behind Flagg, putting this one out of reach for the Mavericks.
Up next
The Mavericks are back in action Wednesday night as they travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs. Catch the action at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
