Preview Kings at Mavericks
The Sacramento Kings are still alive in the Western Conference playoff race but there is very little margin for error heading into Tuesday's road game against the Dallas Mavericks. Sacramento stands 6 1/2 games behind the eighth-place San Antonio Spurs with nine contests remaining.
The Kings suffered a damaging 111-106 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday for their 11th setback in the past 17 games. It also was Sacramento's fourth consecutive road loss and it occurred in the opener of a five-game road trip that includes visits to Houston and San Antonio. Dallas had lost 10 straight games and 15 of 17 before erupting to deliver a 126-91 whipping of the host Golden State Warriors on Saturday in what represents one of the biggest surprise blowouts of the entire NBA season. "I thought our energy was great all night long after we had some tough losses over the last few weeks," veteran forward Dirk Nowitzki told reporters afterward. "This is actually a good feeling. We've had a lot of disappointing losses on the road all season. This one we can be proud of."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE KINGS (36-37): Sharpshooter Buddy Hield made five 3-pointers in the loss to Los Angeles and knocked down 19 in the past three games. Hield has a franchise-record 250 3-pointers as he recently surpassed the mark of 240 that was set in the 2003-04 season by Peja Stojakovic, who is now the club's assistant general manager. Rookie power forward Marvin Bagley recorded 25 points and 11 rebounds against the Lakers and he has notched three straight double-doubles while topping 20 points in four of the past five games.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (29-43): Nowitzki scored a season-best 21 points and knocked down five 3-pointers in his final visit to Oracle Arena while rookie sensation Luka Doncic recorded his sixth triple-double of the season with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Doncic topped 20 points in four of the past five games, with the exception coming when he struggled to 4-of-19 shooting while recording 13 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 116-100 road loss to the Kings. Doncic and forward Maxi Kleber made four 3-pointers apiece on Saturday as Dallas made 21 from behind the arc while holding Golden State to 4-of-30.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings are looking to finish 3-0 against the Mavericks, and a win would complete their first season sweep of Dallas since going 4-0 during the 1997-98 campaign.
2. Sacramento F Harry Giles III (thigh) is expected to play after a two-game absence.
3. Dallas C Salah Mejri (illness) is expected to return after a one-game absence.