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Mavs Struggle Without Kyrie Irving in Shocking Loss to Kings
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- Mavs Struggle Without Kyrie Irving in Shocking Loss to Kings
DALLAS - Without their lead guard, Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks struggled to shoot the ball in a 115-100 loss to the previously winless Sacramento Kings at home.
The Mavericks decided to keep Irving out of Monday night's contest against the Kings, with a game against the Spurs on Wednesday on deck.
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Daniel Gafford and Walter Clayton Jr. led Dallas in scoring with 20 each, while Cooper Flagg finished with 17 points on 15 percent shooting.
The Kings were led by fifth overall pick Darius Acuff, who finished with 25 points, five rebounds, and six assists.
First Quarter
It was a rough first quarter for both teams, scoring less than 20 points by the end. Dallas went 5/20 from the field, including 1/11 from long range. For Sacramento, they shot slightly better at 7/19 and made three threes.
Without Kyrie, Flagg would have to take on scoring duties; however, he ended the first going 0/4 with all four of his points coming from the free-throw line.
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Gafford was the energizer in the quarter for Dallas with four points and four rebounds with 2/2 from the floor.
Sacramento rode Domantas Sabonis to the tune of six points on 3/3 from the floor, resulting in a 19-18 lead for the Kings going into the second.
Second Quarter
The second quarter would see both teams score 35 in faster-paced action throughout the frame.
Gafford once again led the way with 11 points and 2 rebounds, including an alley-oop dunk to cap an 8-0 Mavs run to start the quarter.
The Kings got great production out of Malik Monk, who finished the quarter with eight points on 3/3 from the floor, including two threes. One of which gave the lead back to the Kings at the end of the quarter.
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Sacramento led at halftime, 54-53, after a second quarter in which they shot just under 60 percent from the floor.
Third Quarter
The higher-quality offense we saw in the second quarter took a dive in the third.
Dallas finished the quarter making six shots and scoring 21 points. To make matters worse for the Mavs, it was announced that Max Christie would miss the rest of the game with a hip injury.
What kept Dallas afloat in the quarter was their free-throw shooting thanks to eight Sacramento fouls. The Mavericks went 8/9 from the line but couldn't get anything else going.
Flagg continued to struggle with six points in the quarter, four of which came from free throws.
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For the Kings, it was rookie Darius Acuff who picked up the slack on offense, scoring 10 in the quarter with three assists and three rebounds.
While Sacramento didn't shoot well from the floor either, at 43 percent, they did just enough scoring in the last six points of the quarter to go up 81-74 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Sacramento used the momentum they built at the end of the third quarter to continue building their lead in the fourth.
Two 3s on back-to-back possessions gave Sacramento not only their largest lead of the game, but also tied their largest lead in any game so far this season at 12. The Kings were on an extended 15-5 run at that point.
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Dallas didn't do themselves any favors either. Another shooting slump, paired with two turnovers to begin the quarter, allowed Sacramento to play quickly and get good looks.
These good looks turned into a larger lead for Sacramento, getting up to 15 on another Monk three pointer.
The run was finally ended on a triple by Clayton, his second of the game, and the first three-point make for Dallas since the 8:27 mark in the third quarter.
The Clayton make sparked a 7-0 run for the avs that included a Morez Johnson dunk, and another Clayton triple.
Unfortunately for Dallas, Monk and Acuff decided it was closing time, scoring a combined 10 straight for Sacramento to reopen the 15-point lead capped off by a pull-up three by Acuff that gave him 19 in the second half.
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The Kings found their mojo from the three-point line, canning seven triples in the quarter to clinch their first victory of the season.
The Dallas Mavericks will travel to San Antonio to play the Spurs for the second time this season on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 8:30 p.m. CT.
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