What we learned as Kings rally past Mavs to end six-game skid originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis looks like he’s feeling a lot better since sitting out a game the day after Christmas because of an illness. The Kings’ big man was in top form and put together another masterful performance with 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in a 110-100 win over the severely short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Monday at Golden 1 Center.
De’Aaron Fox had 33 points, six rebounds and six assists to help the Kings (14-19) snap their longest losing streak of the season while giving Doug Christie his first victory as interim coach. Malik Monk added 14 points while Trey Lyles scored 14 and was a plus-31.
A long-time assistant and former Kings player, Christie was handed the reigns after management decided to fire former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown last Friday. The Kings lost to the Lakers on the road Saturday in Christie’s head coaching debut.
For most of the night, there wasn’t much difference between the team that Brown coached and the one that Christie was coaching. There were a lot of the same mistakes, and at one point in the first half, the Golden 1 Center crowd let loose with a light round of boos.
That all changed when the Kings took a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and didn’t let it get away, as they did several times this season under Brown. As the final seconds ticked away, fans stood and chanted “Light the beam” and the good times flowed.
Granted, the Mavericks looked like a MASH unit. Stars Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and others all missed the game for various reasons. For a team starving for good news after one of the most tumultuous periods in Sacramento history, the Kings will take every bit of it.
Fox paved the way with a consistent night. He scored eight points in the first quarter, seven in the second, eight in the third and 10 in the fourth.
Here are the takeaways from Monday’s game:
Defending the arc
A change in coaching hasn’t done much to improve the Kings’ inability to defend the 3-point shot effectively
Two days after allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to drop 14 of 26 behind the arc in Christie’s first game as interim coach, the Kings surrendered 12 more 3s to the Mavericks, even though Dallas was without its top three distance shooters.
One of Brown’s biggest complaints was the Kings’ fundamental failures in defending the 3-point shot. He’s gone but that problem still exists.
Len getting more time
Whether it was the plan before Brown was fired or if it’s a rotation twist by Christie, Alex Len has been getting more playing time. The 7-footer, who logged 11 minutes against the Lakers, played seven minutes against the Mavs and had four points and eight rebounds
Because the Kings hadn’t been using Len much, Sabonis has had to play most of his time at center where he has often been oversized. Though the two weren’t on the court much together, playing Len extended minutes has allowed Sabonis to get some rest.
Prior to Brown’s departure, Len had been averaging a little over seven minutes of playing time but was on the court for 22 minutes against the Detroit Pistons in the last game Brown coached in Sacramento.
Surviving Fox’s meltdown
The Kings were able to navigate around a tough situation in the third quarter after Fox picked up his third and fourth fouls, along with a technical for beefing with referees during 18 seconds in the third quarter.
Dallas led by three at that point, and Fox went to the bench for three and a half minutes. It was a dicey time and the Mavs could have pulled away but credit the Kings for weathering the storm without their point guard and keeping the game close until he returned.
