The short-handed Dallas Mavericks fell to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, 110-100. De’Aaron Fox shook off foul trouble to pour in 33 and stop a long losing skid for the Kings. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 30 to lead the Mavs in defeat.

Dallas entered the game down four starters, with PJ Washington as the lone regular in the line up. The Mavericks showed up in a huge way, with Spencer Dinwiddie and PJ Washington scoring 30 of the Mavericks eventual 37 points in the frame. Washington, in particular, did damage throughout, scoring 16 straight at one point. The Mavericks lead grew to as high as 18 points before late baskets, including a quarter buzzer-beater, cut the lead down to 14. Dallas took a 37-23 lead after one period.

Offense died for Dallas in the second quarter, with the depleted Dallas roster unable to score or run basic offense. The Kings cut the lead to one halfway through the period and eventually retook the lead. Following a Dallas time, the Mavericks settled some. Aided by stellar paint defense, the Mavericks went on an 8-0 run. Free throws aided Dallas down the stretch, despite Sacramento forcing the issue. The Mavericks took a 60-56 lead into the half.

The Kings continued to lose their minds in the third, fouling like crazy. Both Fox and DeRozan picked up their fourth fouls in the first half of the period. Dallas grew the lead back to nine but, of course, could not hold on to it. Ridiculous turnovers plagued the Mavericks in the third as did offensive rebounding. The Mavericks gave up five shots on one possession. Head coach Jason Kidd refused to call a timeout during a 17-2 run from the Kings which closed out the quarter. Dallas trailed 83-77 after three quarters.

Following the quarter break, Kidd finally calls a timeout once Dallas was down 10, dealing with a 22-1 Kings run. Dallas simply fell apart. Spencer Dinwiddie with silly plays, over dribbling and foul hunting, no offensive movement from Dallas players as they all seemed content to watch whatever “Luka Doncic through a fax machine six times” offense Dallas has. This was a disgusting second half performance and I’m annoyed I had to cover it. Dallas fell 110-100 to Sacramento.

Dallas should feel bad about this loss

If you’re reading this in the morning and you didn’t watch the game I want you to understand something: the Mavericks were up by 18 and ended up losing by 10. That’s a 28 point swing. That’s bad and it’s annoying and this was an excellent opportunity for Dallas to steal a game against a team that was on the ropes. The Kings were dead guys. Dallas had them.

Dallas scored on a PJ Washington jumper with 6:23 in the third. Dallas would score a mere five points over the next 10:03 of basketball. The Kings would score 27 points over the same time frame. There were two stoppages in play, one when the third quarter ended and once when Kidd finally called a timeout when the Kings went up 10.

I know Dallas was down guys. I know it. But this was the time to try to micromanage. Dallas doesn’t need Brandon Williams to learn from this experience. They need to win short handed to try to hold on tight while navigating a Luka Doncic-less stretch that could keep going. This isn’t a classroom. This is a team that can win a championship if the cards fall right. They must get wins where they can and I earnestly feel they let this one slip away.

The miscues which killed the Mavericks are pretty embarrassing

Dallas gave up 18 offensive rebounds. Dallas secured 2 offensive rebounds. The Mavericks had 11 second half turnovers after just six in the first half. The Mavericks gave up 25 points off of turnovers, nine more than they scored, which is nearly the margin of victory in this game.

Again, I know the caveat exists that Jazian Gortman had to play minutes in this game, as did Brandon Williams, but some of the turnovers we witnessed were of the kind professionals can’t make. The rebounding from Dallas was pathetic. Washington and Daniel Gafford combined for 10. That stinks! Quentin Grimes can’t be the leading rebounder!

These mistakes were the sort that Dallas had control of an they simply didn’t fix the issues all game and eventually caught up with them.