Dallas Mavs' Defense Picked Apart By Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis in Loss

The Mavs lost both ends of a back-to-back, with a lack of defensive execution being a trend, with the latest display being a loss against the Kings.

DALLAS — On the second night of a back-to-back, the Dallas Mavericks lost 129-113 against the Sacramento Kings. The outcome of this game caused the Mavs to fall to 9-5 on the season through 14 games, while the Kings improved to 8-4.

"It's our effort and energy. There is no excuse for the schedule," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "It's about being able to do your job on a nightly basis and we just didn't do that. We did it for two and a half quarters tonight. And we didn't, we didn't finish the other, the other part of it."

Following the Mavs' loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, a communicated theme for what to address as a unit was defensive execution. Dallas continued to experience shortcomings in this area in the first against the Kings, allowing 70 points on 56/44/92 shooting splits. Dallas trailed by a five-point margin at the break. 

"I think we just have to get better at our defense," Doncic said. 

With the Kings staying active off-ball during half-court actions, the respect for rim-pressure threats like De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis resulted in no shortage of quality options for play finishers around them. There was a general ability to consistently contain dribble penetration and recover after making rotations, giving up easy paint finishes and open 3s. The trend continued throughout the game. 

"We've got to do better when we're getting a miss," Kidd said. "Then we don't get the defensive rebound and understanding, guarding the three is hurting us.

Doncic and Irving set the tone for the Mavs early on, scoring in double figures in the opening half; Doncic had 16 points, five rebounds, and six assists, while Irving chipped in 19 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. added another 12 points.

There was a clear emphasis from the Mavs to hunt mismatch and use whatever screening actions and screeners were required. The Kings continued deploying their center on Derrick Jones Jr. while having a wing handle the Dereck Lively II matchup to make the switch in ball-screening actions. Dallas has to get creative in approaching screening to create advantages.

Sacramento Kings star De'Aaron Fox against the Dallas Mavericks / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Kings became more aggressive as the game progressed by sending late doubles to throw off the Mavs' offense after using the shot clock to get the mismatches they sought. When the ball left the hands of one of their superstar players, there was enough disruption for Sacramento to have an edge.

Dallas changed its lineup after halftime by inserting Josh Green instead of Jones. With the defense having to offer more respect for Green as a floor spacer, the goal is to open things up more in the half-court and make it more challenging for the opposition to hide their big man. 

"Josh was great being able to throw him in with our opponents now putting small players on [Dereck Lively II] and putting the five on our perimeter [like] Jones or Josh. and Josh has handled this before," Kidd said. 

There was a point when the Mavs tied it up 73-73 with some momentum in their favor after a series of plays featuring Irving executing a floater, Doncic making a clear path free throw, and Green converting from the perimeter. A lack of execution on the boards and a general defensive disconnect were problems from that point. 

"We talked about it before, understanding who's going to crash, and we didn't do a good job of boxing out tonight," Kidd said. "We played up to when the score was 73-73. We kind of just got disconnected from there."

Regardless of the personnel deployed, the Mavs never found an answer defensively in the game, trailing 116-99 with 8:03 remaining regulation. Dallas could not rally back in a meaningful way for the remainder of the contest. After Harrison Barnes stole it from Doncic and dunked it on the break, the Kings provided what seemed to ensure victory. The Mavs' offense focused on putting up a high volume of quick 3-point attempts without converting at nearly a meaningful clip while doing so. 

It proved challenging for an undersized Mavs defense to contain Sabonis and the Kings in the paint. Sacramento scored 58 points in the paint. The Lithuanian star set the tone, scoring 22 of his 32 points from that area while chipping in 13 rebounds and six assists. 

"He's an All-Star. He's one of the best at his position, and he dominated the paint tonight," Kidd said of Sabonis. "We double-teamed him, he got to the paint, they found him on the roll, and he had his way tonight. We have to be better."

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Beyond Sabonis' impact, the Kings shooting 17-40 (42.5 percent) from beyond the arc, with Fox scoring 30 points and dishing out seven assists, was an all-around poor defensive outing. With Fox converting on pull-up 3s, it opened up the game for him to do what he does best by attacking downhill and playing with pace.

"His pace is incredible, and when he makes shots, especially those pull-ups, it makes it difficult to guard," Mavs forward Grant Williams said of Fox. "It becomes hard to make his life a little bit more difficult with the pressure of the ball."

Doncic had a standout performance, finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Irving had another strong outing, totaling 23 points. The Mavs' only other players to score in double-figures were Hardaway (14 points) and Josh Green (11 points). The Kings had more scoring depth, with the game's two highest scorers and six players reaching double-figures.

Williams stressed the importance of following the defensive game plan and, similar to Doncic's observations, stressed the need for more imposing physicality throughout the game, chalking it up to effort. 

"Yeah, I think it's mainly our effort," Williams said. "Understanding that we're taught our principles every single day. So being mindful of those and our physicality has to improve."

Following their one-game stop back at American Airlines Center, the Mavs will head back on the road to Los Angeles for a two-game stretch, featuring matchups against the Lakers and Clippers.