Luka Doncic dominant in Mavericks win over Kings
LUKA DONCIC capped a 34-point, 20-rebound, 12-assist triple-double with a basket inside to break a tie with 1:57 remaining in overtime Tuesday afternoon as the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Sacramento Kings for a 114110 victory.
Tim Hardaway, Jr. had six of his 22 points in the extra session, helping the Mavericks (41-29) win for the first time in three tries in the National Basketball Association bubble.
De’Aaron Fox went for a teamhigh 28 points for the Kings (2839), who fell to the brink of elimination in the Western Conference playoff race with a third straight defeat since the restart.
A Buddy Hield 3-pointer gave Sacramento a 102-99 lead with 3:30 left in overtime before Hardaway was fouled on a 3-point attempt and converted three straight free throws for the game’s final tie at 102-all.
Doncic then connected on his go-ahead hoop and Maxi Kleber then hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 to go, propelling the Mavericks to the win.
The Kings got threes from Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic in the final 10 seconds to close within 112-110, but Trey Burke nailed two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining to ice Dallas’ win.
The Kings led almost the entire regulation, using nine firstquarter 3-pointers to build a 3727 advantage after 12 minutes. Hield (three), Fox (two) and Cory Joseph (two) combined for seven of the early threes.
The Mavericks rallied into a 52-all tie on a pair of free throws by Kristaps Porzingis with 2:46 remaining in the half, but then never drew even again until Kleber hit one of two foul shots with 1:52 remaining, squaring the score at 95-all.
The teams combined for seven missed shots and a turnover over the scoreless final 1:52 of regulation. Fox missed three of the shots, including a buzzer-beating 18-footer.
Doncic’s triple-double was his league-leading 16th of the season, while his 20 rebounds were a career-high, eclipsing his previous best of 18 set against New Orleans in December.
Porzingis matched Hardaway with 22 points, while Dorian Finney-Smith collected a careerhigh 16 rebounds to complement 16 points.
Fox added a team-high nine assists for the Kings, who outshot the Mavericks 41.3% to 36.7%.
Hield added 21 points and Kent Bazemore 16 for Sacramento, while Nemanja Bjelica had a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Jackson out for season Meanwhile, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., the team’s second-leading scorer, will miss the remainder of the season with torn meniscus in his left knee, the team announced.
In his second NBA season, the 20-year-old Jackson averaged 17.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, hitting nearly 40% of his 3-point shots. In the Grizzlies’ three games in the NBA’s bubble near Orlando since the season restart (all Memphis losses), Jackson averaged 25.3 points. —