The Dallas Mavericks play their second of a three-game road trip to the West Coast in a visit with the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 27 at 4 p.m. CST. Updates on Anthony Davis prove worrisome for the Mavs' four-game road losing streak.
Anthony Davis exiting the game with an injury brought back post-traumatic stressors for Dallas Mavericks fans as visions of Luka Doncic's calf injury on Christmas Day 2024 (his final game in a Mavs uniform) were unearthed one year later with Davis hurting his groin in a Mavs loss, this year at the Golden State Warriors 126-116.
Will it be Davis' final game with the Mavericks? Time will tell there, but for now, he remains the poster child for a roster tightroping the possibility of the season getting derailed by a lack of chemistry and consistency in health.
Thursday's holiday hoops brought about the return of Warriors legend Klay Thompson to the Bay Area, but his quiet seven points on 3-for-8 shooting were not enough to complement Cooper Flagg's 27 points and Brandon Williams' 26. Davis finished with just three points and three rebounds in 11 minutes of action before leaving the game just before the halftime break.
After a day off, the Mavs are back in action Saturday in the California capital, taking on the Sacramento Kings in an afternoon affair on NBA TV. It is the second of Dallas' three-game road trip to the West Coast.
The Mavs, now 12-20 and in 11th in the Western Conference, visit a Kings squad that owns the worst record in the West and third-worst in the NBA (behind Indiana and Washington) at 7-23.
Anthony Davis to miss "a few games"
Per sources, Davis has been diagnosed with a minor groin strain and is expected to miss a few games. He will be reevaluated daily amid rumored intrigue around his tradability with the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaching.
The 10-time All-Star Davis - who has missed exactly half of Dallas' games due to various injuries this season - will be listed as questionable for Saturday with what is being labeled "right adductor soreness". It's a similar injury to his adductor strain suffered three quarters into his Mavericks debut after his trade that sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February of last season.
Kings are aching, too
Sacramento isn't without its worries with injuries to impactful players. Star big man Domantas Sabonis is out for the matchup with Dallas because of a knee injury. Veteran high-flyer Zach Lavine has missed over a week with an ankle issue, and scoring wing Keegan Murray hurt his calf in the Kings' 136-127 loss at home to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Lavine remains out while Murray is day-to-day.
The Kings haven't played since that Tuesday game at home, meaning the rest should be helpful for veterans DeMar DeRozan (36 years old), Russell Westbrook (37) and Dennis Schroder (32), but Saturday's game begins a back-to-back with Sacramento taking the red eye down to LAX to face Doncic's Lakers on Sunday.
Coop's Christmas Debut
Dallas will hope to conclude its four-game road losing streak by turning to the now-19-year-old rookie Flagg, who has had the best month of his young career in December, averaging 24.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
Flagg became the first rookie since Pete Maravich in 1970 to record at least 25-5-5 on Christmas Day. Oscar Robertson is the only other rookie to complete that stat line on the holiday.
How to Watch, Betting Odds
WHO: Dallas Mavericks (12-20) at Sacramento Kings (7-23)
WHERE: Golden 1 Center | Sacramento, Calif.
WHEN: Saturday Dec. 27 | 4 p.m. CST
TV: NBA TV, KFAA-29 (DFW), MavsTV streaming
RADIO: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle (DFW), 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
SPREAD: Dallas -3
TOTAL: 231.5
MONEYLINE: Sacramento +120, Dallas -142