Doncic-Irving duo debut spoiled as Mavs bow to Kings in OT

De’Aaron Fox scored 14 of his 36 points in overtime to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 133-128 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks and gain a split of a back-to-back set on Saturday, February 11 (Sunday, February 12, Manila time).

Domantas Sabonis recorded 22 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out and Terence Davis tallied 22 points off the bench as Sacramento won for the third time in the past four games. Kevin Huerter scored all 15 of his points in the second half, Trey Lyles added 14 points, and Harrison Barnes had 13 for the Kings.

Kyrie Irving had 28 points and 7 assists for Dallas and Luka Doncic added 27 points and 9 rebounds in the first contest of their highly anticipated pairing. Irving was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week and Doncic missed the previous four games – including Irving’s first two – due to a heel injury.

Josh Green scored 23 points and Christian Wood added 15 for the Mavericks, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

Dallas beat the Kings, 122-114, on Friday in a game it never trailed.

It was different Saturday as Fox scored back-to-back baskets to give the Kings a 121-117 lead with 2:53 left in overtime. Irving then scored seven of Dallas’ next 9 points and pulled his team within 127-126 with a three-pointer with 24.6 seconds remaining.

Fox made two free throws with 18.4 seconds left to give Sacramento a three-point edge. Doncic missed a three-pointer with 14 seconds left and Fox helped the Kings put the game away by sinking four more free throws.

Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Mavericks missed the second half with right hamstring tightness.

Dallas shot 51.6% from the field, including 20 of 51 from three-point range.

The Kings connected on 51% of their shots and were 8 of 32 from behind the arc.

Fox intercepted Doncic’s shaky bounce pass and drove in for a rim-rattling dunk to give Sacramento a 112-111 lead with 1:44 remaining in regulation.

Dwight Powell made three of four free throws to give the Mavericks a two-point lead before Sabonis scored on a putback with 37.6 seconds left. Fox missed a three-pointer as time expired in regulation.

Doncic scored 19 points in the first half for the Mavericks, who closed with a 17-2 burst to take a 64-62 halftime lead. Irving had 7 points and drained a corner 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to give Dallas the lead.

Wood’s three-pointer with 35.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter allowed the Mavericks to take an 88-86 lead into the final stanza. – Rappler.com