Stats rundown: 3 numbers from a Dallas Mavericks loss to the Sacramento Kings

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Sacramento Kings Saturday night in Sacramento, losing 133-128 in overtime. The loss drops the Mavericks to 31-27. The win bring the Kings’ record to 32-24.

De’Aron Fox led all scorers with 36 points. Terence Davis chipped in 22 off the bench. Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 28 points. Luka Doncic added 27 and grabbed nine rebounds. Josh Green had 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep.

Here are three numbers from the game:

0: The number of turnovers by the Kings in the first half

Usually the Mavericks are the ones taking care of the ball. Not tonight. The Kings didn’t turn the ball over once in the first half. Limiting their turnovers helped keep Sacramento in the game. The Mavericks hit 11 threes in the first half compared to just three for the Kings. They got a little sloppy in the second half (seven turnovers), but it didn’t matter. They found a way to pull out the win.

Plus-28: The Kings’ margin on points in the paint

I hammer at this a lot, but the Mavericks get outscored on points in the paint almost every game. Old timers will often complain about jump shooting teams, and they’re mostly wrong. But the Mavericks are doing their best to prove them right. They get annihilated on points in the paint every game, and it happened again tonight, getting outscored 74-46. They can hit threes just fine, but they also need to add some high percentage shots at the rim to their shot diet. The Kings had 17 more shots at the rim than the Mavericks.

4: The number of Mavericks who logged 40-plus minutes

Doncic, Irving, Green, and Reggie Bullock all played at least 40 minutes tonight. In February. On the second night of a back-to-back. That seems like the type of line you get in the playoffs, not a routine night shortly before the All-Star break. Not sure why Jason Kidd felt the need to push his guys like that. Maybe they felt like with an eight-day break approaching, it’s okay to stretch the Mavericks’ legs a bit, especially against a Western Conference playoff foe.

Part of it is also the Mavericks injuries and depth taking a hit. The Kyrie Irving trade exchanged two starters for one, and Maxi Kleber is still hurt. To make matters worse, Tim Hardaway Jr. left at halftime with a hamstring injury. It’s hard for the coaching staff to balance minutes right now.

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