Kings 115, Mavericks 100: Sacramento finally wins, with Acuff's late burst the difference
Darius Acuff Jr., Malik Monk and Zach LaVine combined for 72 as the Kings ended a winless start in Dallas.
The Sacramento Kings won for the first time this season on Monday, Nov. 2, beating the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 at American Airlines Center. The Kings had started 0-6 and were the last NBA team to get a win.
Three scorers
Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. led Sacramento with 25 points, Malik Monk had 24 and Zach LaVine 23. The Kings Herald, a Kings-focused site, reports that Acuff took just two shots in the first quarter and scored 19 of his 25 after halftime, while Monk made 9 of 14 shots off the bench and finished a game-high plus-27. LaVine was 8 of 14. The same site reports Sacramento shot 52.4 percent and made 19 threes, a season high, against Dallas's 7 of 33 from deep.
For Dallas, Daniel Gafford and Walter Clayton Jr. each scored 20. Cooper Flagg had 17 on 3-of-19 shooting, but made all 11 of his free throws. Kyrie Irving sat out to rest his left knee, per ESPN and AP.
How it was decided
The game was tight into the second half. Sacramento led 54-53 at halftime, and by the quarter scores it was ahead 81-74 after three. Dallas stayed close largely because it got to the line far more often, according to the Kings Herald, which counted 35 Mavericks free-throw attempts against 15 for Sacramento.
The Herald identifies the turning point as the stretch with about six minutes left and the Kings up seven: Acuff scored nine of Sacramento's next 12 points to make it 15, after which Dallas began doubling him and LaVine answered with two straight threes. That account comes from one outlet, and the AP and ESPN write-ups do not describe the runs, so we cannot confirm the sequence independently. Sacramento won the fourth quarter 34-26.
What it means
Sacramento moves to 1-6 (ESPN) and sits 4.5 games back in the Pacific Division, which makes this a relief win rather than a turnaround. The Kings Herald notes it was the first game this season in which the Sacramento bench outscored Dallas's.
Dallas falls to 4-3 and ends a three-game winning streak. The most striking line in its box score is Flagg's: a night of 3-of-19 shooting offset only by free throws.
Next up on Wednesday, the Kings host the Los Angeles Lakers and the Mavericks visit San Antonio.