Kings at Mavericks
The Sacramento Kings are trying to build into a playoff contender but are still working on their late-game execution. The Kings will try to make the necessary plays down the stretch against one of the better teams in the league when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Sacramento squandered a nine-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation and missed a series of shots with a chance to win or take the lead in overtime before suffering a 105-104 loss at the San Antonio Spurs on Friday - its third straight loss. "We had three open looks to win and we missed all three of them," Kings coach Luke Walton told reporters. "So, it’s frustrating. It hurts to lose, but it's what the journey's about and it's about learning from these and getting better as a group and going out and being able to do a better job at executing down the stretch next time we're in that situation." The Mavericks don't know much about the frustration of losing of late and are playing the second night of a back-to-back on Sunday after destroying the New Orleans Pelicans 130-84 on Saturday for their fifth straight win. "We did some good things," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "Our defense probably wasn't as good as it looked in the second half. They missed a lot of shots they normally make, so we got a little lucky there. But hey, it's a win we got to get, and we got to try to get ourselves positioned to play well tomorrow, so we'll get our guys off their feet. Sacramento's coming in here playing well."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE KINGS (8-13): Sacramento leading scorer Buddy Hield scored at least 21 points in each of the last five games but is shooting 37.1 percent from the floor in that span and missed a pair of shots at the end of overtime to cap a 10-of-27 effort on Friday. "I'll tell you now, we need to be more locked in, especially with attention to detail with the last minute of regulation, plus overtime situations," Hield said. "I see what the coach was talking about and that was my fault." Hield isn't the only player struggling of late as forward Harrison Barnes is shooting 37.5 percent from the floor, including 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, during the three-game slide.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (16-6): The 46-point blowout on Saturday featured Dallas holding New Orleans to 36 percent from the floor, including 3-of-32 from beyond the arc, and forward Kristaps Porzingis believes the team is building solid chemistry on the defensive end. "I think we're getting more comfortable with each other on the defensive end," Porzingis told reporters. "Guys are getting used to playing with me where they know if somebody drives that I'm around the rim somewhere and I can protect the rim and they don't have to foul in a lot of situations. And I think it's just us holding each other accountable on the defensive end, also." The offense is led by second-year star Luka Doncic, who breezed to 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings C Marvin Bagley III (thumb), who last played on Oct. 23, is practicing and could return soon.
2. Mavericks G Delon Wright (adductor strain) is "very unlikely" to play Sunday after leaving Saturday's contest early.
3. Sacramento swept the three-game series last season, winning twice at Dallas.