Keon Ellis #23 of the Sacramento Kings shoots a three-point shot over Ryan Nembhard #9 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half at Golden 1 Center on December 27, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory Photo Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Saturday afternoon to take on Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks, who were without the injured Anthony Davis, were coming off a Christmas loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. The Kings, who entered the game with the worst record in the Western Conference, were coming off a loss on Tuesday at the hands of the Detroit Pistons.

On Saturday, the Kings defeated the Dallas Mavericks 113-107 in front of a solid weekend crowd at the Golden 1 Center.

The Kings got off to a quick start in the first quarter as they jumped out to an early 14-9 lead at the 7:11 mark in the game. Keon Ellis had eight of the Kings’ 14 points and started the game red hot, going 3-3 on his shots. The Kings kept up their offensive pace the rest of the first quarter as they outscored the Mavs 31-23. Keon Ellis continued his first-quarter tirade as he dropped 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor. The Kings played one of their better quarters of the year and looked to keep up that pace heading into the second quarter.

Doug McDermott kept the Kings going early in the second quarter as he checked in and immediately hit two three pointers for the Kings. The Kings outscored the Mavs 28-21 to take the 59-44 lead going into halftime. Keon Ellis led the Kings in scoring in the first half with 13 points (all coming in the first quarter), as Maxime Raynaud and Russell Westbrook were right behind with 11 and 12 points, respectively. P.J. Washington Jr. led the Mavericks with nine points in the first half. Cooper Flagg was a non-factor in the first half as he scored only two points on 0-4 shooting from the field.

Coming out of halftime, the Mavs went on a 24-12 run to open the half as the Kings’ lead shrunk all the way down to 71-68 at the 6:05 mark, forcing Doug Christie to take a timeout. The Mavericks’ shooting had come around to start the second half, and the Kings had no answer early on to stop them. Cooper Flagg scored 15 of the 24 points in the Mavs’ early run in the second half. The Kings battled back and were able to rebuild the lead to 88-77 to end the third quarter. Keon Ellis caught fire again late and dropped eight points in the third quarter for the Kings.

Down the final stretch of the game, the lead hovered around 10 points for the Kings for the majority of the fourth quarter. However, during the final two minutes of the game, the Mavs were able to cut the lead to four points. Yet, the Kings held on and were able to defeat the Mavs 113-107. It was one of the more complete games from the Kings this season, albeit against a bad and depleted Dallas squad.

The Kings were led in the victory by Keon Ellis and Russell Westbrook, who each scored 21 points in the game. Dallas was led by an impressive second half from Cooper Flagg, who tallied 23 points in the game (21 in the second half).

After the game, Doug Christie praised the Kings’ effort after the Mavericks made their run in the third quarter.

“We went on a 9-0 run in that third quarter to respond to their response. And that’s big, man… teams are going to make a run. It’s just how it goes. But it’s your response to that. And my thing tonight with them was mental toughness, and they definitely showed the mental toughness.”

Aside from the game, Russell Westbrook made more history in what has turned into a certain Hall of Fame career. Westbrook passed Magic Johnson on the all-time assists list with 10,141, which is good enough for seventh all time. Westbrook also surpassed the 2,000-steal threshold with a steal at the 5:09 mark in the third quarter.

Speaking on his accolades, Westbrook was humble about the status he has reached on the court during his career.

“Before I speak and say anything, I’m truly blessed and thankful to the man above for just allowing me and gifting me with the time to go out and play basketball. And as for passing Magic, it’s an honor. Magic is one of the greats.”

Westbrook continued to speak not only to Magic’s greatness on the court, but also his desire to lift others up off of it.

“I mentioned this a little earlier, but yes, Magic did a lot of great things on the court. But growing up in the inner city of Los Angeles, Magic did a lot for the underserved, continues to do a lot — something that I’ve kind of modeled and wanted to make sure the philanthropy side was also done. I’m grateful to be able to pass him just because he’s such a legend in so many different ways.”

The Kings aren’t much of a fun watch on the court this season. Yet, the late addition of Russell Westbrook has certainly given fans a reason to show up on a nightly basis. Kings fans are watching greatness on a nightly basis with him and DeMar DeRozan. That’s special, and somewhat of a silver lining to this disappointing season so far for the Kings.

Up next: The Kings will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers at 6:30 p.m. PST at Crypto.com Arena.