Mavs Notebook: 5 Takeaways From Bad Loss And Spurs Prep

DALLAS — The Sacramento Kings came to American Airlines Center on Monday night without a win in six tries and yet beat the Dallas Mavericks 115-100.

Dallas dropped to 4-3. The loss ended a three-game winning streak that began Oct. 26 in Miami. Sacramento had allowed 128.3 points per game while losing its first six.

Leaky Black's 3-pointer with 5:49 left in the third quarter put the Kings ahead 67-65. It was the 17th and final lead change of the night. Sacramento pushed the margin to 19 points with 2:18 remaining.

Dallas played without Kyrie Irving (left knee injury management), Santi Aldama (right knee surgery), Dereck Lively II (right foot surgery), Sergio De Larrea (right knee sprain), and Tarik Biberović (right heel bursitis).

Next up come the powerhouse Spurs ... and our 5-Takeaway Mavs Notebook on what's up ..

Malik Monk, Emanuel Sharp, and Leaky Black went 12-of-17 from 3-point range off the Kings' bench. Monk scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He had not reached double figures in any of Sacramento's first six games.

Every time Dallas made a run, Monk answered with a step-back 3-pointer, Mavericks coach Dusty May said.

“They were the more determined team tonight, the more prepared team, and they came in here and earned it,” May said. “I want to give a lot of credit to their bench. Those guys, their backup three wings, made a combined 12 threes for 36 points. So nights like that, you’ve got to find ways to overcome your lack of shooting and [their] shooting well. And we just, we weren’t able to do that tonight.”

Black scored 12 points and Sharp added 9. Sharp made all 3 of his shots, each one from beyond the arc.

Sacramento finished 19-of-43 from deep. In the fourth quarter alone, the Kings went 8-of-11 from 3-point range and outscored Dallas 34-26.

With 8:02 to play, Monk's step-back 3-pointer gave Sacramento its first 15-point lead at 94-79. Walter Clayton Jr. hit 3-pointers at 7:47 and 5:59 to get Dallas within 94-87. Darius Acuff Jr. made two free throws on the following trip, and Monk answered with another 3-pointer to make it 99-87.

Zach LaVine scored 23 points and made 5 of his 9 attempts from deep. His back-to-back 3-pointers at 2:46 and 2:18 put the Kings up 112-93. Acuff led Sacramento with 25 points and 6 assists on 10-of-21 shooting.

Cooper Flagg scored 17 points on 3-of-19 shooting. He added 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals while playing 39:33, and he missed all 4 of his attempts from 3-point range. Five of his 6 turnovers came after halftime.

In the five games he played before Monday, Flagg had averaged 26.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists on 55.7% shooting. He sat out the 122-106 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 24 with a left shoulder sprain.

Dallas put little pressure on the paint or the rim and spent the night on its heels, May said.

“They loaded the paint,” May explained. “And there’s a cadence to it where he’s fanning out early, and we miss our first, probably, I think we miss our first eight threes, and we thought several of them were good looks. And at that point, it fuels their fire to get to him even more in the paint, and they’re collapsing on the run, second guy, third guy at him.”

“I don’t think our spacing or the relocations were great as a whole,” May continued. “And we just didn’t, we didn’t find any rhythm together.”

Dallas did not make a 3-pointer until its 11th attempt, a 25-footer by Clayton with 42.9 seconds left in the first quarter. Sacramento blocked 3 of Flagg's shots.

All 11 of Flagg's free throws went in, a career high for makes without a miss. No Maverick had made at least 11 in a game without a miss since Irving on March 1, 2025, against Milwaukee.

Irving sat for the second time this season with left knee injury management. He also missed the Oct. 24 loss to San Antonio, then played his first home game of the season against Oklahoma City four days later.

P.J. Washington scored 12 points on 2-of-9 shooting and made 6 of his 8 free throws. Zaccharie Risacher went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 18:35, five days after Dallas exercised his $17.4 million team option for 2027-28.

Daniel Gafford scored 15 of his season-high 20 points before halftime on 7-of-8 shooting. Eleven of them came in the second quarter. His previous 15-point first half was March 12 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

He finished 9-of-10 from the field with 7 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block in 26:21. After halftime, Gafford took two shots and made both. His fourth foul came with 1:37 left in the third quarter.

It was the 13th time Gafford has scored at least 20 points while shooting 90% or better. Since he entered the league in 2019-20, only Jarrett Allen (16) and Rudy Gobert (14) have more of those games.

On Friday, Gafford had 18 points in a 116-111 win over the Houston Rockets. Monday marked the sixth time in his career he has strung together consecutive games of 18 points or more. He has 16 20-point games with Dallas, after 7 before he joined the Mavericks.

His block against Sacramento kept alive a streak of seven straight games with one to open the season, a first in his career. Eight other Mavericks have started a season that way.

Dallas grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, 3 of them by Gafford, and outscored Sacramento 22-12 in second-chance points. It was the fourth straight game the Mavericks reached double digits on the offensive glass. They also scored at least 100 points for the seventh straight game to open the season, the seventh time in franchise history they have done that.

Nothing stood out to Gafford about how Dallas prepared.

“I feel like just the energy was a little low,” Gafford said. “I feel like we started off good and just kind of like throughout the course of the game, we were, yeah, having plays here and there where it’s like our energy wasn’t into it.”

“P.J. said it a lot in the locker room,” Gafford added. “He was like, ‘We played their record tonight, 100%.’ And they came in with the mindset to just, it doesn’t matter their record. They came in and they played like pros tonight.”

Max Christie started and went 0-of-5, every attempt from 3-point range, in 7:40. He went down midway through the second quarter, came out with 6:59 left in the period, and did not return. Dallas ruled him out with a right hip injury.

Christie came in 10-of-32 from deep this season. May did not see the play itself, only Christie hobbling afterward.

“They just said we’ll evaluate him tomorrow,” May said. “Typically the night of, it’s tough to have a clear evaluation, but we’ll reevaluate in the next couple days.”

Clayton replaced Christie in the second quarter and started the second half in his place. He finished with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and went 4-of-4 at the line in 23:34.

He had scored 20 twice before, against Oklahoma City on Dec. 7, 2025, and at Milwaukee on April 5. Monday was also the fifth time he has made four 3-pointers in a game, which matches his career high.

Eleven of Clayton's points came in the fourth quarter, when he made 3 of his 4 attempts from deep. He became the second Maverick this season to score 20 off the bench. De Larrea had 21 against San Antonio on Oct. 24.

Naji Marshall finished with 5 points and 7 assists, 2 of them on Clayton baskets.

Irving has been giving Clayton little bits and pieces day by day rather than everything at once, Clayton said.

“Just seeing the game, there might be a point where he feels like I could have rejected a screen,” Clayton said. “He’ll just get in my ear, let me know about that. And then the main thing really is just don’t get down on myself. Whenever something bad happens, move on to the next play. He’s big on next play mentality. So that’s something he’s been preaching to me a lot.”

Morez Johnson Jr. made all 5 of his shots and scored a career-high 13 points in 17:03. He went 3-of-6 at the line and added 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Seven of his points came in the second quarter. His tip-in with 2:54 left in the half put Dallas ahead 47-44.

In the fourth quarter, Johnson took the ball from Acuff for a steal with 7:23 left. Twenty-two seconds later, Dallas lost a coach's challenge on an out-of-bounds call against him. He finished a driving dunk off a Flagg pass with 6:36 to go that cut the deficit to 94-84.

Johnson works every day and pays attention to the details, from the short roll to the offensive and defensive glass, Gafford said.

“I’m proud of him,” Gafford explained. “The sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to have a good career in this league.”

Gafford expects Dallas to be OK after this one.

“We let this hurt until midnight and we focus on the next one,” Gafford said. “Keep it pushing. We’ve got a big game coming up in two days, playing a good Spurs team. Can’t really dwell on this too much. We know the things that we need to do to get better. And I feel like our response to this one is going to dictate how this season is going to go for us for sure.”

The Mavericks play at San Antonio on Wednesday, with an 8:30 p.m. CT tip-off at Frost Bank Center on ESPN. The Spurs are 5-2.