Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving Lead Dominant Dallas Mavs Victory Over Sacramento Kings

The Mavs led by as many as 39 points in Tuesday's victory over the Kings, as both teams compete for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Mar 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots the ball / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

SACRAMENTO —  On Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks (43-29) faced the Sacramento Kings (42-30), beginning a two-game mini-series with significant playoff-seeding implications. After pulling away by a substantial margin in the second half, the Mavs won 132-96, improving the team's record to 9-1 over their previous 10 games.

As a result of the victory, the Mavs now hold the sixth seed in the Western Conference and trail the Kings 2-1 in the season series. In Friday's rematch, Dallas will need to achieve another win or it will result in a clinching a loss of the tiebreaker with Sacramento.

Luka Doncic was considered a game-time decision due to left Achilles soreness but was upgraded to available to play before taking the floor to warm up. He finished his performance with 28 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

Mar 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots the ball / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrie Irving offered a necessary complementary presence as Doncic's superstar backcourt partner throughout the game. On the night, Irving totaled 24 points and eight assists.

"He's the Batman, I'm the Robin," Doncic said of Irving.

In what became a significant blowout, the Mavs executed offensively at a highly efficient rate while allowing defensive execution to set the tone. Dallas made 22 shots from beyond the arc and finished shooting 55.4% overall and 56.4% on 3-point attempts. While shooting 61.5% on free throws was underwhelming, Dallas recorded 34 assists and only had nine turnovers. It was a balanced effort, with Tim Hardaway Jr. scoring 22 points and doling out four assists. P.J. Washington added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Daniel Gafford chipped in 10 points and hauled in four boards.

After giving up 41 points in the first quarter of Monday's victory over the Utah Jazz, the Mavs emphasized the importance of getting off to a strong defensive start. Sacramento was held to 28 points while shooting 42.3% from the floor in the first quarter, setting up a 31-28 edge for Dallas. It was Sacramento's highest-scoring quarter in what became a performance shooting 38.9% from the floor and 36.7% from deep. Dallas held an opponent below 100 points for the seventh time this season, with four games occurring in March and all being victories.

"We're playing complete games, playing great on the defensive end and offense is great all the time," Washington said. "We hit shots tonight. We rebounded well. We played great defense for 48 minutes."

None of Sacramento's players reached the 20-point threshold, with De'Aaron Fox limited to 18 points and five assists. Domantas Sabonis nearly recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. The Kings were collectively held to shooting 9-28 (32.1%) from the floor with seven turnovers. It was a tall task for the Kings to overcome their two stars' subpar offensive displays.

"Those two are All-Stars. We just try and make it tough on them. It's a group effort," Kidd said. "The guys executed the game plan. We're trying to make it tough. They missed some shots that they normally don't, and so we capitalized on that by not giving them second opportunities. ... Fox is one of the best guards in this league, and Sabonis is one of the best bigs, and we just try to throw as many bodies as we could to make it tough on them. And the group did that tonight."

When Sabonis was put into the action, the Kings prioritized a defensive scheme that involved a show-and-recover approach. This put pressure on Washington, who was often guarded by Sabonis, to convert catch-and-shoot 3-pointers on the pop. Washington made three perimeter jumpers in the first quarter, providing a boost.

Doncic showed no signs of being impacted by his injury early, finishing with seven points, four assists, and three rebounds in the opening period. He aggressively attacked downhill and created shots for teammates by countering the Kings' approach to shrink the floor. Dallas had strong connectivity in the half-court offensively by sprinkling in different approaches throughout the night, such as handoff actions and double screener actions, to prevent Sacramento from stagnating the Mavs' offense with blitzing or show-and-recover approaches. The gravity Doncic and Irving present is instrumental in this strategy proving effective.

"I thought Luka, our leader, set the tone early," Kidd said. "He came out aggressive."

The early second quarter involved hot perimeter shooting from Doncic, who used crafty approaches. He snaked a ball screen into a step-back from behind the 3-point line with Alex Len playing drop coverage. He later used a post-entry catch to set up a spin step-back and created a lot of separation in the process before knocking it down. Dallas led 44-38 with 8:53 before halftime after a series of made finishes from the Slovenian superstar transpired.

The Mavs executed at a high level defensively throughout the second period, handling Sabonis on the roll by contesting his push shot, effectively containing dribble penetration, and making necessary defensive rotations to close possessions. It wasn't until the 5:05 mark of the frame that Sacramento reached the 40-point threshold.

After Dallas led by eight points following Irving's baseline jumper, Fox scored seven consecutive points for the Kings while engaging in a back-and-forth with Doncic as both teams often traded baskets. Sacramento managed to force a few turnovers by blitzing in pick-and-roll coverage while sending an early low-man to tag the roller. Doncic had a series of impressive plays during this stretch, including a left-wing step-back 3-pointer.

With the Mavs in the bonus, Doncic aggressively drew contact to get to the free throw line. He already totaled 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals in just 20 minutes before the break, with the Mavs holding a 58-53 edge over the Kings. No other player scored in double figures at this point for Dallas, but Washington's nine points were the closest to that mark. Fox scored 14, while Murray added 11. Sabonis was already on triple-double watch with nine points, eight rebounds, and six assists.

Irving gave the Mavs a major boost coming out of halftime, scoring 10 points within the first 3:30 period. There was a clear emphasis on him attacking early in the shot clock. A surge featuring a floater, two made 3-pointers, and a driving dunk from the superstar guard extended Dallas' edge to 73-61, achieving the first double-figure lead by either team. The momentum did not stop for the Mavs. After a short-range pull-up from Doncic, a 3-pointer from Washington, and a floater from Irving, the Mavs were up by a 19-point margin.

" I thought Kai set the tone for us," Kidd said. "We want to get out and run. We talked about that before the game that we're not a team that just can walk it up. We can do that if we have to, but we want to get out and get easy baskets. We want the ball to touch the paint and we want to share the ball. I thought the guys did that. Kai set the tone in the third [quarter] and the guys followed."

Throughout the game, the Kings struggled to execute in the paint against the Mavs' center options in Gafford and Lively. There were quite a few times when Sabonis stopped looking at the rim after drawing contact and facing length on a drive, with one sequence in the third quarter ending in a shot clock violation. Dallas executed at a high level defensively in the half-court, with perimeter players struggling to create advantages on rim attacks.

"The focus of playing defense and protecting one another is at a high right now," Kidd said.

The Mavs made plays running the offense through Doncic more, knowing double teams would come either out of the post or early in the shot clock in a high pick-and-roll, allowing the Mavs to play advantage basketball against a scrambling defense. Exum converted a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the weak-side wing on a one-more pass after Doncic drew two in the post. Hardaway hit a jumper from the corner after Lively found him on the short roll. Dallas led by 25 points late in the third quarter but closed the frame up 96-76.

"I think when those start to fall, we're a tough, even tougher team to beat," Irving said. "We attacked the rim pretty well, but when that perimeter shot is falling, we're able to make defenses play us a little bit higher on the 3-point line. They start doubling us, they start getting the ball out of me and Luka's hands, then that creates other opportunities for other guys to get open shots and get baskets."

With Irving leading the bench group to close the third period and begin the fourth quarter, the Mavs led by as many as 39 points. Dallas operated well within half-court actions, often playing out of various handoff sets with Irving as the central element. Sacramento faced a deficit that was too substantial to achieve a legitimate rallying effort. Doncic never had to check back into the game at any point in the fourth quarter, and Irving's night ended with 4:11 left to play.

Looking ahead, the Mavs will face the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Friday to complete the two-game mini-series and continue a five-game Western Conference road trip.