The Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings are hoping to save what has turned into disastrous seasons for each, as both teams regressed mightily from 2023-24 and traded their franchise players in the process.
The embattled franchises will face off in the Western Conference’s No. 9 vs. No. 10 seed play-in game on Wednesday. The winner earns a chance to face the loser of Tuesday’s Warriors-Grizzlies matchup to determine the eighth and final playoff seed in the West.
How Dallas Got Here
When the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis on Feb. 1, they told the media they did so, not only because of concerns for the future, but also because they believed Davis gave them a better chance to win in the present.
That didn’t work out so well. Davis went down with a left adductor strain in the third quarter of his Mavericks debut on Feb. 8 and missed nearly the next two months of action. The Mavericks won four of their first five games following Davis’ injury, but quickly started to flutter after that as they lost 11 of their next 13 games from February 23 to March 19.
To add further injury to the insult that was the Doncic trade, star guard Kyrie Irving suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the Mavericks’ March 3 loss to none other than Sacramento.
After a timely 123-117 win over Detroit on March 17, Davis returned to the lineup the following Monday and helped lead Dallas to three more wins in its next four games. The good times didn’t last long though, as the Mavericks promptly lost three of their last four regular season games.
How Sacramento Got Here
The Kings were already having a disappointing season when De’Aaron Fox requested a trade in late January.
On Feb. 3, Sacramento dealt Fox and Kevin Huerter to San Antonio in a three-way deal that saw the Kings acquire Zach Lavine from Chicago and Sidy Cissoko to San Antonio. Sacramento promptly dealt Cissoko to Portland in exchange for center Jonas Valanciunas, who gave the Kings a much-needed reinforcement in the post.
The Kings won seven of their next nine games to move to 32-38 after those deals were finalized, but the run quickly collapsed and they won just four of their next 11 games to fall to 36-40 overall on April 2.
Sacramento proceeded to finish 4-2 in its final six games, one of which included a 43-point performance from Lavine. Lavine averaged a team-high 22.4 points per game in 32 appearances after the trade. Domantas Sabonis has also continued to play at a high level. The big man averaged 19.1 points and led the league in rebounding for the third straight season with 13.9 boards per game.
Key to the Game
Cliche, but the key is whether Anthony Davis plays like someone worthy of being called a Top 75 NBA player of all time or not. Dallas is 0-3 against the Kings this season, but Davis was unavailable for all three of those matchups. If the Mavericks want to get over the hump against Sacramento, they need Davis to show up in a major way.
