Dallas Mavericks forward Sterling Brown (0) drives towards to the hoop only to get fouled from behind by the Sacramento Kings center Damian Jones (30) at the Golden One Center in Sacramento on Fri Dec 31, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (15-22) were back in action on Friday afternoon, the last day of 2021. The game was slated to take place at 3 PM PST against the Dallas Mavericks (17-18) The Kings last played on Wednesday when they also took on the Mavericks.

That game went in the Kings favor at the last second when Chimezie Metu hit the game-winning three-point shot as time expired. The Kings beat the Mavericks 95-94. The Kings and Mavericks played again on Friday, and the Mavericks trounced the Kings 112-96.

In the first quarter, the Kings got off to a hot start. The Kings outscored the Mavericks 39-34 in the first quarter. The offense hit all cylinders, and the Mavericks defense could not keep up. De’Aaron Fox led the attack that saw him be ultra-aggressive in the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the Mavericks also put the hurt on the Kings defense, scoring 34 points as neither team looked prepared for the other on the defensive end of the floor.

In the second quarter, not much went right for the Kings. The Mavericks offense continued to click, but the Kings offense fell dormant. The Mavericks scored 28 points in the second quarter, which was an improvement for the Kings defense.

However, the Kings offense fell by the wayside. The Kings only scored 17 points in the second, which put them in a hole going into halftime. The Kings trailed the Mavericks at halftime 62-56.

In the third quarter, the Kings began to implode. The Kings offense and defense simultaneously fell apart as the Kings were outscored 32-20 in the third quarter.

It was a baffling sight to behold. The Kings appeared to show good energy in the first half, but that is a familiar sight for the Kings only to see the meltdown in the fourth. The Kings would need a miracle on both ends of the floor to come back against the Mavs without Luka. The Kings entered the fourth quarter down 76-94.

The story doesn’t get any better for Kings fans in the fourth quarter. At one point, the Kings went 0-12 in a 7:29 stretch that sealed the deal for the Kings. The Kings did outscore the Mavs in the final quarter 20-18.

However, most of those points came in garbage time as both teams emptied the bench. Overall, the Kings lost the game 112-96 and snapped their two-game win streak. Notably for the Kings was the performance of De’Aaron Fox.

Fox scored 10 points in the first eight minutes of the game. Yet, he could not score any more points the rest of the game. Tyrese Haliburton led the Kings with 17 points in the losing effort. The most impressive performance for the Mavs came in the form of Jalen Brunson, who scored 23 points. It is time for the Kings to take stock in the team. The team needs to be rebuilt from the ground up—nothing anyone can do with this current group.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to take on the Miami Heat on Sunday at 3 PM PST inside Golden One Center.