Dallas visits Sacramento for the second time since Christmas, but this time they'll be led by Anthony Davis in their pursuit of a get-back win.
On Dec. 27, the Dallas Mavericks lost a frustrating battle with the Sacramento Kings, 113-107, at the Golden 1 Center. The Mavs coughed up 21 turnovers as Kings point guard Russell Westbrook drank from the fountain of youth to put up 21 points, including five made three-pointers.
On Tuesday, Dallas returns to the California capital, but this time with some help.
Anthony Davis will be in the lineup for Dallas' late-night tip (10 p.m. CST) after missing the last matchup with Sacramento. This season, the Mavs' success with Davis has been evident, especially when compared to the games without him.
Dallas is an even 9-9 with the All-Star big man, but just 4-14 with him on the bench.
Davis has been in action for the last week, notably chipping in 26 points and 12 rebounds in a win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, and will look to contribute on both ends of the floor again after two days of rest, regardless of whether he's at power forward or center.
The decision on how to space him stems from coach Jason Kidd's recent decision to revert back to the big lineup of rookie Cooper Flagg at point guard to pair Davis and Daniel Gafford down low.
It's a tandem that Kidd hopes to keep using as the front court's health improves.
"Gaff doesn’t get enough minutes with AD playing the five,” Kidd told Mavs.com. “So looking at trying to get that group [together] to see if we could get something [going]. It didn’t start off so well. But it’s not how we start. We’ll see this group a little more this week. The more they can get a little bit of chemistry, we’ll be better."
Flagg got into early foul trouble and ended with a below-average 10 points against Houston. He contributed elsewhere with seven rebounds and six assists, but it was Davis' command on both sides of the ball that impressed Kidd most.
“He was good, really good,” Kidd said. “We got to do a better job of entering the ball to him in the post. We’ll work on that. But overall, both offensively and defensively, he was AD.”
Dallas needs Davis' best again in order to enact revenge over the Kings.
Sacramento is on a five-game losing streak (it's last win was over Dallas on Dec. 27), but guard Max Christie acknowledged that each game in the NBA is an audition. The variability is part of why teams can beat others with good records (such as Houston) but turnaround and get beat by lesser opponents (like Sacramento) in the span of a week's time.
“Every team in the NBA is an NBA team. It doesn't matter who you're playing. You can throw the records out the window," Christie said.
“It's the NBA and every team is a great team regardless of the record. So, it doesn't really matter who we're playing. It's always going to be difficult to win.”
Dallas, 13-23 on the season, sits two spots above the 8-28 Kings in the Western Conference standings. Sacramento is one of two teams in the West (and four total) still in pursuit of their 10th win.
They meet at 10 p.m. CST in Golden 1 Center on Jan. 6, with the game airing live on NBC and Peacock.