‘Playoff vibe’: Overtime win over Mavs gives Kings valuable experience for postseason run
The Kings are at a stage in their season as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference where winning games for the standings isn’t their only goal.
They’re taking a step necessary for teams that want to be taken seriously. They’re learning how to win when circumstances are tough against high-caliber opponents, which is what they’ll face this spring should they break their 16-year postseason drought.
Take their 133-128 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night at a raucous Golden 1 Center. The game had playoff-level intensity. Luka Doncic, one of the league’s brightest stars, was back with new running mate Kyrie Irving for the first time.
Dallas entered the night as the No. 4 seed in the crowded West, just a game back of Sacramento in the standings. The stakes were real, and the Kings came through, lighting the beam a night after the Mavericks ran the Kings off the floor in the first quarter Friday in a way the home team couldn’t recover from.
This had the feeling of a playoff series, an experience the Kings can pull from when the stakes are inevitably higher down the road.
“It’s definitely, definitely different basketball,” Domantas Sabonis said afterwards. “The physicality, the defense, pushing yourself to the limits where you haven’t been doing it during the season against the other teams. It’s definitely different. These teams know that we’re up there (in the standings). We know that they’re up there. It’s a battle.”
Recently-named All-Star De’Aaron Fox had arguably his most complete game of the season, offensively and defensively, scoring 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and setting a new season high in the NBA with 14 points in the extra period. Fox entered Saturday with the most clutch points in the league, and he hit the fourth quarter with just 10 points, setting the stage for another takeover.
Fox put the offense on his shoulders the rest of the way, playing the entire fourth quarter and overtime, beating Mavs defenders with his hesitation dribbles and crossovers. He scored with scoop layups and floaters. The crowd at Golden 1 Center roared at its apex when Fox came away with a steal from Doncic and a dunk with 1:44 remaining, giving Sacramento a 112-111 lead, their first of the fourth quarter.
Fox accounted for all but five of the Kings’ points in overtime, earning MVP chants from the crowd in a game that resonates as a signature moment given the atmosphere, high level of play from both teams, intensity of the crowd, and Sacramento’s focus on trying to earn homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason.
“We’re a game ahead of them coming into today, so knowing that this is a win that we needed and one that they really wanted,” Fox said. “Just trying to keep homecourt advantage going into the playoffs is something that’s huge. You don’t want to be one of those teams going into the All-Star break on a losing streak or some type of slump. You have to be able to finish strong, especially if you want to go into the last part of the season hitting the ground running. ... We have to finish strong.”
Head coach Mike Brown has seen his share of playoff runs. He worked under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, coached LeBron James in Cleveland and Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, starting with their 73-win season in 2016.
Part of Brown’s appeal as a candidate for general manager Monte McNair during the hiring process last June was Brown’s track record of experience in these situations. And Brown knows the value of high-level games, like Saturday’s, when a team is fighting for its place in the postseason while also hardening itself for what’s to come in a seven-game series.
Brown gave credit to his players for battling through the circumstances. Saturday marked the fifth game for the Kings in seven days, which included the end of their season-long seven-game road trip Wednesday in Houston. Sabonis was questionable Saturday with a thigh bruise, and Fox appeared to injure his hand while battling Irving for a loose ball early in the fourth quarter.
“It gives you a taste of it because of the physicality of the game,” Brown said. “A lot of guys are banged up, starting with Domas. Foxy’s a little banged up. In order to win a seven-game series at that time of the year, you will be banged up. You’re gonna have to figure out how to play at the highest level and play through whatever bumps and bruises you have. It’s not just a physical thing. It’s a psychological thing, too.
“And that’s what impressed me the most about Domas is he’s banged up. He came back and had a huge double-double for us tonight. That’s what he’s going to have to experience. Fox, he’s a little banged up, too. That’s what they’re going to have to experience while they’re doing their job at a high level and try to get a win.
“So, a big, great experience for us to play in a game like that, against that type of team, especially with the state that we are right now.”
Sabonis finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 41 minutes. He fouled out with 1:27 left in overtime.
“I fouled out and I was like, ‘Fox has got this,’” Sabonis said afterwards.
The Kings also got a boost from reserve guard Terence Davis, taking the role of Malik Monk, who suffered a sprained ankle Friday. Davis scored a team-high 17 points in the first half and was on the floor in crunch time, defending Doncic, while playing some of his best defense of the season.
“In the first half, I really feel like Terence Davis gave them that extra oomph or extra push,” Irving said, “and the game was a little out of balance.”
Davis earned the defensive player of the game chain, which he proudly sported during his postgame news conference. He finished with 22 points and six rebounds while fellow shooting guard Kevin Huerter added a season-high eight rebounds.
The Kings won the rebounding battle, 50-43, which helped them overcome getting outscored by 36 points from the 3-point line. Dallas made 20 of 51 from distance while the Kings went 8 of 32. Sacramento also held Doncic scoreless in the fourth quarter. He had only two points in overtime before finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Slowing Doncic while absorbing haymakers from Irving, who finished with 28 points, could give the Kings experience they can lean on if they end up playing the Mavericks in April.
“We knew the atmosphere was going to be over the top,” Davis said. “It definitely felt like a playoff vibe.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 12:33 AM.
