DALLAS -- The Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban spent the hours before Wednesday night’s victory to the Sacramento Kings recounting past mistakes, facing blame for their playoff spiral, and shooting down one Hall of Fame’s dad’s superstar insults.
But Kyrie Irving had a clear answer to the most pressing issue of the night.
In the Mavericks’ 123-119 win, Irving scored 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting in the fourth quarter to snap a skid of seven losses in their previous eight games and 10 in their previous 13. The late production included a pull-up 3-pointer with 3:07 remaining to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 5 points (117-112) and then a high-arching three from the left corner to send American Airlines Center into hysterics one minute later.
Irving (31 points, eight assists and four rebounds), Luka Doncic (29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists), Tim Hardaway Jr. (24 points, including five 3-pointers) and Christian Wood (12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter) combined to dominate scoring against the Kings’ top-rated offense and help the Mavericks overcome an 11-point halftime deficit.
Deep breaths, Mavericks fans.
The victory means the play-in tournament remains in reach.
The Mavericks’ 38-42 record is tied with the 10th-place Oklahoma City Thunder, though Dallas remains in 11th because the Thunder own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The ninth-place Minnesota Timberwolves (40-40) sit two games and have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mavericks.
The Mavericks will remain alive for the Nos. 7-10 play-in tournament regardless of the Thunder’s result against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, so don’t expect the Mavericks to rest Doncic or Irving to preserve their draft lottery odds against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.
The Kings entered Wednesday leading the NBA in offensive rating (119.1 points per 100 possessions), almost two points per 100 possessions more than the second-place Boston Celtics. While their defense has drawn skepticism from pundits discussing their playoff prospects, the Kings’ 115.9 defensive rating matched the Mavericks’ this season.
All-Stars Domantas Sabonis (19 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) and De’Aaron Fox (28 points) capitalized early, helping Sacramento outscore the Mavericks 44-32 in the second quarter to lead 71-60 at halftime.
But the Mavericks, who held a two-day rest advantage over the Kings playing on the second night of a back to back, started the second half on a 22-7 run, including 11 points from Hardaway, and rode Irving’s NBA-leading fourth-quarter production down the stretch.
Perhaps victory will ease the sting of outside speculation and criticism that continued Wednesday.
Tim Hardaway Jr.’s dad, Tim Hardaway Sr., appeared on an FS1 debate show Wednesday morning, called Doncic “a crybaby” and insulted Doncic and Irving’s leadership. Hardaway Jr. apologized to his superstar teammates, general manager Nico Harrison and the Mavericks’ players-only group chat to assure them “I disagree with it 1000%.”
Then Cuban further ignited talk about Jalen Brunson’s devastating void when he spoke with reporters a couple hours before the game Wednesday, blaming Brunson’s dad, Rick, for the dissolution of contract extension negotiations and reading text message exchanges between general manager Nico Harrison and Brunson’s agent Aaron Mintz.
Also in his impromptu on-court session with reporters, Cuban declared re-signing Irving to a long-term contract would be the franchise’s top priority this offseason — a similar sentiment he shared about Brunson after the Mavericks’ West finals loss last spring — and confirmed Jason Kidd “absolutely” will remain the team’s head coach next season.
How did Kidd feel about that?
“Did you guys ask him that question last year?” Kidd asked a reporter who alerted him to Cuban’s comments a few minutes later. “F--- no. Why would you ask it now? I’m just asking. If we’re asking questions — I mean, you didn’t ask that question last year.”
When the reporter responded that the Mavericks’ disappointing season prompted questions about leadership, Kidd continued: “It happens in sports, right? Like, sometimes we fail, and it’s all right to fail because you learn from failing. The best players in the world have failed. MJ has failed. It’s driven him to be the best in the world. No one’s perfect, right? There’s not a perfect coach. There’s not a perfect player. There’s not a perfect owner. You’re not perfect, and so you have to learn from your failures.
“Yes, right now, today, we’ve come up short. But the season’s not over, right?”
Not yet, thanks to Irving and the Mavericks’ fourth-quarter fire.
