SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Even 1,700 miles from home, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd sensed the palpable excitement back in North Texas.
The Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving Era was about to dawn Saturday night in Golden 1 Center and Kidd, too, was excited.
“I’ve got a good seat,” he cracked. “I think we’re all excited. I think it’s a good time for Mavs basketball.”
With Doncic returning from a three-game injury absence and teaming with recently acquired Irving for the first time, the Mavericks fell in overtime to Sacramento, 133-128, before a raucous Kings crowd.
It certainly was an exciting, though defensively-challenged night for both teams. Doncic finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Irving contributed 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
“Amazing, man,” Doncic said of sharing the court with Irving. “I think it’s so fun to play with this guy. He’s an amazing basketball player, and I think it’s going to be really fun. Today, for a first game, it was really fun, too.”
An Irving 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in overtime brought the Mavericks within 127-126, but after a pair of De’Aaron Fox free-throws pushed the Kings’ lead back to three, Doncic missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left. Kidd said that it was Irving’s read to get the ball to Doncic, and though Doncic was off-balance, “he hits tough shots all the time,” Kidd said.
“That’s my bad,” Doncic said. “I should have gave it back to Kai. For me it’s still a learning process, but for sure I should have given it back. He was really hot down the stretch, so that’s on me, for sure.”
The Mavericks’ three-game winning streak ended. One night after beating the Kings here without Doncic, (31-27) missed an opportunity to pull into a tie with Sacramento (32-24) for third in the West.
Still, a 3-2 road trip is a success, certainly better than last month’s 1-4 trip West. And there were plenty of glimpses on this night and during the trip to give Mavericks fans much about which to be excited.
“For the first time for those guys to play minutes together I thought it was it was really, really good,” Kidd said. “It was just natural. There was nothing forced. I thought this was a great game for us, as much as we would like to be on the winning side, just to play late with the game going back and forth, just understanding the dynamic of those two.
“The nice part is we have two players that have extremely high basketball IQs,” Kidd said. “And they’re all about winning.
“They use the pass and dribble to set up for themselves or for their teammates. And that that’s kind of unique in that way, is that both can record a triple-double and both can score 50.”
Kidd predicted that Doncic would have some rust, not having played in a week because of a right heel bruise. Nor had the Mavericks had much practice time with Doncic and Irving on the court together.
Rust did indeed show, and the Mavericks struggled with pace of play, playing at a higher tempo when Irving was on the court without Doncic and at a noticeably slower pace when Irving was on the sideline.
“I think it’s just a matter of time that those guys get in that rhythm right now with the energy and the connection of his team,” Kidd said.
Trivia question: On Dallas’ first possession, was it Doncic or Irving who brought the ball up-court?
Trick answer: Neither. Josh Green did the honors.
That first possession resulted in Doncic sinking a seven-foot banker after posting on the right block. Doncic also scored Dallas’ next basket, a 3-pointer, and Irving followed by knifing through the lane for a layup.
While Doncic and Irving were on the court together to start the game, Dallas outscored Sacramento 20-15.
During the first-half minutes that Doncic was on the court and Irving wasn’t, the Kings outscored Dallas 25-15. And when Irving was on the court without Doncic, Sacramento owned a 20-12 scoring advantage.
Clearly, two superstars were better than one. That was best exemplified during the final 3:43 in the first half, when Kidd repaired his All-Star tandem with Dallas trailing by its biggest margin of the night, 60-47.
It was as if the duo shifted the Mavericks into hyperdrive. Dallas finished the half on a 15-2 tear, with Irving’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner giving Dallas a 64-62 lead.
The game see-sawed through the final two quarters and overtime, with Fox leading the Kings with 36 points, and Terence Davis hurting the Mavericks with 22 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Josh Green scored 23 points for Dallas, but the Mavericks lost starter Tim Hardaway Jr. at the end of the first half with hamstring tightness.
The Mavericks clearly have found a higher offensive gear since acquiring Irving, who played his third game in a Dallas uniform on Saturday.
While the Mavericks at times at trouble maintaining a consistent offensive pace, Doncic noted that it still was faster than before Irving’s arrival by trade last Sunday.
“For sure it was a better pace than before him,” Doncic said. “I think both of us played off the ball today. That’s going to be one learning process for me, but today was fun.”
