Kings 115, Mavericks 100: The League's Last Winless Team Wins at the AAC, and Dallas's Win Streak Ends
Sacramento arrived in Dallas 0-6, the only team in the NBA without a win, and left with one: rookie Darius Acuff Jr. scored 25, the Kings' bench outscored Dallas's game, and Cooper Flagg's 17 points came on 3-of-19 shooting in a 115-100 Mavericks loss that snapped a three-game win streak.
The Sacramento Kings are winless no more. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. scored a game-high 25 points and Sacramento won for the first time in seven games this season, beating the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 on Monday night at the American Airlines Center, the Associated Press reported.
Malik Monk added 24 points off the bench and Zach LaVine finished with 23 for the Kings, who trailed by one at halftime, 54-53, and then took the game over in the second half, outscoring Dallas 27-21 in the third quarter and 34-26 in the fourth. Sacramento was the last NBA team to crack the win column this season.
Dallas was led by Daniel Gafford and Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 20 points apiece. Cooper Flagg added 17, but the Kings' defense made his night a grind: he made only 3 of 19 field-goal attempts, did his scoring damage at the line by making all 11 of his free throws, and turned the ball over against a defense that swarmed him all night, according to the game reports read this run.
The Mavericks played without Kyrie Irving, who sat out for left knee injury management. Irving is averaging 21.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists this season, and on a night when Dallas's half-court offense stalled in the fourth quarter, his absence was the simplest explanation for a team that had won three straight suddenly scoring 26 points in a final quarter at home.
The loss drops Dallas to 4-3 and closes the three-game homestand on its worst note. The Mavericks' next game is Wednesday at San Antonio — a road test against a division rival, 48 hours after the league's last winless team used their floor to get right.
