Mavs vs. Kings Takes As Dallas Signs Theo Pinson & Marquese Chriss to 2nd 10-Day Contracts

The Dallas Mavericks came up short 95-94 in their Wednesday loss to the Sacramento Kings as Luka Doncic remained sidelined. Tonight, another try.

In another outing without Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks did their best to attempt to pull off another win. Coming off a convincing victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Mavs lost 95-94 during Wednesday's matchup with the Sacramento Kings. 

They'll try it again tonight in Sacramento, and they'll do so on the heels of another scramble for bodies as on Friday the Mavs have signed Theo Pinson and Marquese Chriss to second 10-day contracts.

Hours prior to the start of the game, reports surfaced that Isaiah Thomas planned to sign with the Mavericks and would be joining the team in Sacramento. He ended up making his debut with the team.

The Mavericks outscored the Kings in all but one quarter of this game. After jumping out to a 30-20 lead after the opening frame, Dallas put just 13 points on the board in the second quarter. 

Despite such poor execution from the Mavericks leading into halftime, they managed to still end up taking a 94-92 lead with 33.2 seconds left to play in the game after a pair of made free throws from Kristaps Porzingis. 

The outcome of the game ultimately was decided at the buzzer. De'Aaron Fox drove straight down the lane—drawing Dwight Powell to rotate from the weak-side corner as the low-man. Chimizie Metu was left wide open and he converted on the catch-and-shoot jumper in the corner. 

Let's take a look at three takeaways from the Mavericks' loss to the Kings. 

4. Horrendous Second Quarter Was Costly

There is a significant reduction in the margin for error when a team scored just 13 points in a single quarter as the Mavericks did in the second period against the Kings. How about when a team not only puts up just 13 points, but also gives up 35 to their opponent? 

The lack of execution offensively was almost comically bad for the Mavericks within this 12-minute span. Sterling Brown's three-pointer at the 9:17 mark made him the team's leading scorer for the frame and also marked the only make Dallas achieved from deep as a whole team. 

The Mavericks finished the second quarter shooting just 6-of-21 (28.6%) from the floor and 1-of-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc while not getting to the free throw line for a single attempt. 

Meanwhile, the Kings shot a blistering hot 12-of-18 (66.7%) overall while going 3-of-6 (50.0%) from deep and 8-of-9 (88.9%) on free throws. Sacramento had four players outproduce the Mavericks' leading scorer, which included Harrison Barnes (9), Marvin Bagley III (8), Davion Mitchell (7), and Tyrese Haliburton (5).

The 30-20 lead the Mavericks established at the end of the first quarter became a 55-43 halftime deficit. Managing to outscore Sacramento by an 11-point margin in the second half proved to not be enough. That's just how costly the second quarter was for Dallas...

3. Brunson & Porzingis Continue To Shoulder Load

Without a variety of key players in the lineup, the Mavericks have relied heavily on Jalen Brunson and Kristaps Porzingis to shoulder the load on offense. 

At times, there hasn't been much supporting cast help and this game was one of those outings that falls under such a category. Brunson (25) and Porzingis (24) combined for 49 of the Mavericks' 94 points. 

There were some solid contributions and overall scoring performances from other players. Regardless, there appears to be a lack of talent or the Mavericks to rely on other players aside from Brunson and Porzingis to make dynamic plays with the basketball. 

Even with holding the Kings to well below 100 points, there just wasn't enough production from the Mavericks' offense. There were a few areas that stood out, in particular. 

Shooting 9-of-13 (69.2%) at a team did not help the Mavericks' efforts. The disparity in bench scoring played a pivotal role, too. Sacramento received 34 points from their reserves while Dallas was limited to just 23 from theirs. 

2. Isaiah Thomas Makes Debut

After Brandon Knight landed on the NBA's health and safety protocol after being a replacement himself, the Mavericks opted to sign Isaiah Thomas. 

Thomas was coming off a 10-day hardship contract with the Los Angeles Lakers but the team opted to not sign him to a second deal. Thomas, who was in Seattle to begin the day of the game, received a call from Nico Harrison asking if he'd be interested in playing for the Mavericks. 

“It’s crazy because I was at Fred Meyer this morning getting some groceries and Nico had called me," Thomas said. "The first thing he was asking me was, “You think you can play tonight?’ I was like, ‘Hell yeah I can play tonight.’ It’s been a lot, but I’m built for this. I’m ready for it. I’m thankful for the opportunity and it was a no-brainer when he asked.”

Thomas finished with six points and four assists in 13 minutes of action. He missed all three of his takes from deep and went 3-of-8 (37.5%) overall from the floor without recording a turnover. 

It wasn't exactly a headline grabbing debut from Thomas. He will need to find consistency in his shooting as his last few stints have featured low efficiency results on scoring chances. 

It will be fascinating to see how long Thomas manages to stick with the Mavericks. Dallas has needed a ball handler in addition to Doncic and Brunson. If Thomas can perform, it would solve a need. 

1. Execution On Final Play Is Debatable

In a close game, the execution on a single player can have a huge impact on deciding the outcome. The Mavericks experienced that the hard way in this one. 

The Kings had the ball for the final shot facing a 94-92 deficit—inbounding the ball with 3.8 seconds left to play. Frank Ntilikina engaged De'Aaron Fox tightly far off the three-point line—prompting Dwight Powell to make the low-man rotation to the paint. Chimezie Metu was left wide open in the weak-side corner for the catch-and-shoot jumper at the buzzer. 

CHIMEZIE. METU. FOR. THE. WIN.

💰💰💰 pic.twitter.com/ay8BF7fgZ0

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 30, 2021

In a vacuum, Powell making that rotation to help against Fox on a deep drive finish makes sense, especially when factoring in that Metu was shooting 24.1% on three-pointers in 2021-22 entering this matchup. 

“The play was for (Fox), obviously,” Metu said, via NBA.com. “But there was a game earlier this year where he said if I was open, he was going to throw it to me. Obviously (the Mavericks) were playing the numbers. (My teammates) always tell me to keep shooting … so it feels great that they believe and trust the work I’ve been putting in.”

However, In a two-point game with seconds left to play that may not be the case, but much of post-game analysis is often dictated in hindsight. Additionally, Metu was shooting 2-of-4 (50.0%) on the night prior to taking what ultimately ended up being the game-winner. 

“(Dwight Powell) was going to help,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He thought Frank might have been beat, but unfortunately if we give up a layup the game is tied and we go into overtime.

“But (Powell) went to help and they made a shot.”

Given the probability of Metu converting on a jump shot based on his season-wide production, had he missed that last shot, the conversation would be entirely different. It may have warranted Powell praise for forcing the ball out of Fox's hands and playing the percentages. 

“Those are things that you can’t really blame the guys," Kidd said. "Everything went 100 miles per hour on that last play. Just a tough, tough, tough loss."

Tonight? Maybe, with the renewed 10-day guys, a tough, tough win. Our Mavs-Kings preview is here.