Sacramento Kings guard Delon Wright, center, Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson, left, and forward Tim Hardaway Jr. (11) all struggle for the basketball on Sun Apr 18, 2021 at Dallas (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings have had their share of ups and downs this season. Consistency and defense has been a constant problem for the team and now another kink in their armour; the loss of Richaun Holmes with a confirmed right hamstring strain. He will obviously be out tonight and will not travel to Phoenix and Dallas. His confirmed return to action will be simply when appropriate. Just another blow for the team this season, a very tough one.

There is some good news for Kings fans however and that is that the Golden 1 Center will be welcoming fans back on April 20th. Frontline workers will be honored by being the first fans back in the arena to not only honor but to also thank them for their tireless efforts. Capacity for the first game back will be 1,600 fans.

Sunday night the Kings took on the Mavericks. Dallas has a 30-25 record while Sacramento has a 22-34 record. A win in this game would be a very good thing considering that the Mavericks are currently in 7th place in the Western Conference.

The first quarter was a close one with the Kings outscoring the Mavericks 22-20 but it was the second quarter when the Kings really pulled out into the lead outscoring Dallas 45-30. The score at the half was 67-50. A sizable lead but the Mavericks had a lot to play for and this game was by no means a done deal for the Kings.

After three quarters the Mavericks still trailed but the Kings lead had shrunk from a 17 point lead to a 10 point lead. The score at the end of the third quarter was 87-77 in favor of the Kings. Sacramento had to hang on for one more quarter to seal the win. The King’s needed De’Aaron Fox to really step up the pace along with some defensive stops.

It was a very nervous fourth quarter for the Kings and with under eight minutes left in the game they led by seven points. The Mavericks were not going anywhere and the Kings would have to earn this win. Luka Doncic had gone off in the fourth quarter. Every time the Mavericks got close Sacramento would answer. De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes came up with some huge points and Terence Davis had an amazing 23 points in 28 minutes off the bench.

With one minutes left in the game the Kings led by twelve points and Sacramento had delivered when they needed to. The final score was 121-107. Fox would finish with 30 points and Barnes with 24 in an impressive win for Sacramento.

The Kings will be back in play on Tuesday taking on the last place Timberwolves. Tipoff is at 7:00 PM.