SACRAMENTO – The words “ran out of gas” came up several times as the Mavericks analyzed their 110-100 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
And Spencer Dinwiddie, who had a season-best 30 points to lead the Mavericks, nailed it when he was asked about missing 80 percent of the starting lineup, which forced a whole new playing rotation for coach Jason Kidd.
“We still have enough talent to win games,{ Dinwiddie said. “Our first quarter was superb.
“At the same time, though, I highly doubt that this specific lineup is going to have many games that they have to win as a group. With L (Luka Dončić) being out for a minute, and your still missing Kyrie, Klay, Live — the whole starting lineup, basically. I don’t envision that being the norm.”
Kidd and every Mavericks fan in the world are hoping Dinwiddie is right.
Against the Blazers on Monday, it was a momentum-shifting possession late in the third quarter that changed everything. The Kings grabbed four offensive rebounds and finally got a tip shot from Domantas Sabonis. That play tilted everything in favor of the Kings, who finished the third quarter on a 17-2 roll and had a 25-3 domination that bled into the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks had been surviving just fine earlier despite missing Dončić (calf strain), Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Klay Thompson (illness) and Dereck Lively II (hip). Also out was Naji Marshall, serving the second of a four-game NBA suspension.
While the Mavericks beat the odds – and the Kings – for the better part of three quarters, their downfall came when their defense, which had been solid much of the night, abandoned them.
“I thought we played hard, but the fourth quarter was rough,” said P.J. Washington. “And the third, too. We just got to be better at the end of the day.”
The Mavericks fell behind 76-75 after a 10-0 Sacramento surge was capped by their four offensive rebounds, the last of which was Sabonis’ tip shot that was his 15th rebound of the night. He finished with 16 boards.
“For sure, plays like that change the momentum,” said P.J. Washington. “The crowd got into it a little bit. They got an easy bucket and it’s just the little things moving forward we have to (work) on.”
For the night, the Mavericks were outrebounded 58-36 and were outrebounded on the offensive end 18-2. That last number was catastrophic.
The Mavericks slipped to 20-13 for the season and are 1-2 on this trip that concludes Wednesday at Houston. The Kings (14-19) got their first win for interim coach Doug Christie who lost his first game in the big chair Saturday at the Los Angeles Lakers after the Kings fired Mike Brown last week.
And for the longest time, it looked like the Mavericks would extend Sacramento’s woes.
After hitting seven of their first eight three-pointers in the first quarter to jump out to a big lead, the Mavericks would make just five of their next 23 three-pointers (21.7 percent) and the Kings had a 106-93 lead with 2:09 to go.
Dinwiddie and Washington (28 points) did their best to keep the Mavericks afloat. But there just weren’t enough bullets in their holster.
“(They did) everything they could,” coach Jason Kidd said of Dinwiddie and Washington. “They did a great job. We felt confident with the group we went out there with. On the road, Sacramento is fighting for their lives, and we’re just trying to find a way with the bodies that we have. And I thought the group that could go really put us in a position to win.
“We played to the end. We just had a stretch there where we couldn’t score and turned the ball over too many times and gave them the opportunity to come down and score.”
The Kings were led by De’Aaron Fox with 33 points and Sabonis had 17 to go with his 16 rebounds and seven assists.
With half-a-dozen players out, the Mavericks had to use a patchwork lineup that included extensive use of two-way contract players Brandon Williams and Jazian Gortman.
And the Mavericks got star-level outings from Washington and Dinwiddie as they tried to hold the fort down. But with so many key players, Luka in particular, out, it was a struggle.
“Obviously, he’s our best player, so trying to win games without him is going to be tough,” Washington said. “But we’re professionals for a reason. With or without Luka, we’re expected to win.”
Washington had paid his debt to the NBA with a one-game suspension on Saturday in Portland after his role in the Phoenix fracas the previous night. His return was much-needed.
“It helps,” Kidd said. “It’s good to get P.J. back and get him back into the flow of things. But we’ll have another new starting lineup.”
Yes, the Mavericks had their 15th different starting lineup in their 33rd game of the season, thanks to all the absentees.
The Mavericks’ biggest challenge against the Kings was slowing them down. They play fast as a rule and want to have an even faster pace with Christie taking over for Brown. And the Kings also have been working in new players under Christie.
“They’re trying to play a little faster. There’s maybe a couple guys that haven’t been playing that are playing. Anytime there’s a coaching change, that tends to happen. But the speed of the game, they’re playing a lot faster.
That speed worked to the Mavericks’ advantage early as they had an 18-point first-quarter lead. But that evaporated quickly.
X: @ESefko
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