Dallas Mavs 'Not Satisfied' With Strong Recent Play, 'Excited' for Rematch with Sacramento Kings

The Mavs are not satisfied with holding the sixth spot in the Western Conference after Monday's win over the Kings as they are set for a rematch.

Mar 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) congratulates / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

SACRAMENTO — The Dallas Mavericks achieved a 132-96 blowout victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night — the first of a two-game mini-series. Both teams will face off again on Friday after having two full days off.

The Mavs remain in a tightly contested race for the sixth seed in the Western Conference standings. With the Kings winning the first of two games in the season series, Dallas must win Friday's matchup to avoid losing the tie breaker. For now, Dallas remains in the sixth spot, but as Kyrie Irving expressed, the team isn't satisfied.

“We don’t take for granted how well we’ve been playing,” Irving said. “But we’re not satisfied just because of where we are position-wise.”

Mar 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) congratulates / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

With consistent availability of the superstar backcourt and much-improved defensive execution, the Mavs are 9-1 in their previous 10 games. The results have been acheived despite underwhelming perimeter shooting results, but with 22 made 3-pointers while converting at a 56.4% clip, Dallas experienced how the team can play when defending at a high level and shots are falling.

“I think we’ve talked about it each game or at practice about the shots we’ve been getting. We’ve had them all year," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "The season is about makes and misses. We’re making them early in the season and our focus on the defensive end was taking some of our legs in a positive way. The focus on playing defense and protecting one another is at a high right now.

"Maybe our offense took a step back from making threes but I thought today P.J. and D. Jones set the tone for us with the threes," Kidd continued. "I thought Luka, our leader, set the tone early, he came out aggressive. And then our other leader in Kai, he set the tone in the third with the pace. So when those guys get going, somebody’s going to be open and I thought we played for one another both offensively and defensively.”

With continued focus on defensive principles, the Mavs sense they have been realizing the results of the process they've put in place. With Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington now in the fold, Dallas has the size defensively to execute the team's intended style.

“As much as coaches would like our defense to be perfect in training camp, it sometimes takes a little time,” Kidd said. “But there’s no better time to play defense than in March when you’re playing for something. And our offense, we believe, is one of the best in the league.”

With two full days off between games, the Mavs understand the Kings will be highly motivated to bounce back strongly. Sacramento will surely make adjustments after having shot just 38.9% from the floor as a team and failing to contain the Mavs' offense led by Doncic and Irving. For example, De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis were held to a combined 30 points on 9-28 (32.1%) shooting overall. How likely is it that both stars get kept in check again? That remains to be seen. The chess match of playing a mini-series is intriguing for Irving and the Mavs.

"We know that they're going to be even more well-prepared for Friday's game," Irving said. "So we just want to show respect to them and play hard and play physical. Be ready for them to throw all their best punches. I felt like they tried to do that in the first half.

"They're coming off of back-to-back. We're coming off of back-to-back," Irving continued. "Anything could have happened tonight. We luckily came out more fortunate enough to come out and earn the win. But Friday we just know what it's going to be like when they get two, or three days of rest. So getting ready for an even more invigorated matchup, exciting matchup. So I'm looking forward to that."

The Mavs do not want to provide bulletin board material for the Kings ahead of their next matchup, or to the NBA at large. After defeating the Utah Jazz in consecutive matchups, Dallas will be tasked with accomplishing the same feat with two straight matchups in Sacramento. Managing to defeat two teams twice in a row would be an impressive indication of where Dallas is at.

“We’re not sending any messages,” Kidd said. “We’re just trying to take what’s in front of us and just take the one possession at a time. We understand where we are at and how big this road trip is. And this is only game 2 of five.

“We got to play the Kings again (on Friday). It will be a different team on Friday," Kidd continued. "The beauty of that is we just went through that on Friday with Utah. And we’ll be fresh and ready to go.”