Sacramento Kings at Mavericks
(6:30 p.m. Sunday, American Airlines Center, Dallas)
TV: Bally Sports Southwest/NBA TV
Radio: ESPN 103.3 FM (Univision 1270 AM, Spanish)
About the Mavericks (30-25): They are 13-13 at American Airlines Center, which is one of their biggest problems this season . . . It ’s been a step-forward, step-back treadmill lately for them. After the shocking buzzer-beating win over Memphis on Wednesday, they lost to New York on Friday by eight points and may have had some difficulty shaking off the euphoria of the victory over Memphis . . . After winning five in a row, they have lost four of six and are two games behind No. 6 Portland in the Western Conference standings. The Blazers also have the tiebreaker on the Mavericks, which essentially means the Mavericks have to beat the Blazers by three games the rest of the way. Both teams have 17 games left . . . So, if the Blazers go a pedestrian 9-8, the Mavericks would have to go 12-5 to pass them . . . Luka Dončić had gone 14 games without reaching double-digit assists. But he made up for that with 19 helpers against the Knicks . . . The Mavericks average 12 turnovers per game, which is third fewest in the league. However, they only force 12.3 turnovers per game, which ranks 29th . . . Over the last seven games, Dorian Finney-Smith has averaged 11.7 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 37 percent from 3-point range . . . The Mavericks are favored by eight points.
About the Kings (22-34): They have been on the cusp of being playoff-relevant, but haven’t quite been able to make it to that level. At one time they were 22-25 and within sniffing distance of the play-in tournament. But that was before they lost nine games in a row, which is the skid they bring into tonight’s game . . . During the nine-game slide, the average margin of defeat has been just over 11 points and the stretch has pretty much eliminated them from any chance of the play-in tournament . . . Marvin Bagley (hand) and Richaun Holmes (hamstring) both missed the Kings’ last game and likely are out again against the Mavericks . . . Point guard De’Aaron Fox has improved his scoring average in all of his four seasons in the league, to the point where he is averaging 25.2 points this season. He’s also dishing out 7.1 assists this season . . . Scoring should not be a problem for the Mavericks because the Kings are dead last in the NBA in defensive rating . . . Former Mav Harrison Barnes is having another Harrison Barnes kind of season, averaging 15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists while hitting 36.5 percent of his 3-point shots.
Twitter: @Esefko
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