Luka Doncic – Sports Radio Service

Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong: Mavericks Irving out for season ACL injury; Magic’s Suggs out with knee injury; plus more news

Published on March 6, 2025 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Dallas Mavericks Naji Marshall (left) and Max Christie (00) stand by Kyrie Irving (center) after Irving took free throw shots and was in pain from an ACL injury which turned out to be a season ending injury in a game against the Sacramento Kings in Dallas on Mon Mar 3, 2025 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong:

#1 Dallas Mavericks Kyrie Irving is out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee. Irving 32 was playing against the Sacramento Kings in the early minutes of the game when the injury occurred. What does mean to lose a player like Irving?

#2 Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs who left the game with back spasms on Jan 3 was out until Jan 25 in a game against the Detroit Pistons when he had discomfort in his knee and after further tests show Suggs will need mosaicplasty to repair the trochlear joint surface. His full recovery is expected.

#3 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says that the officials need to call more traveling calls. Kerr got a technical foul on Monday night in a game against the Charlotte Hornets which the Warriors had won 119-101. Kerr observed traveling by the Hornets were not being called. Kerr pointed to the fans who were screaming for a travel call and Kerr was hit with the technical.

#4 The Dallas Mavericks fans feel like they’re be left holding the bag. First fan favorite and team star Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. Davis is now injured after suffering abductor strain. Davis could miss the rest of the season. With that disappoint to add insult upon injury the Mavericks announced that they will be raising ticket prices and increase of about 8.6% for next season. Since the Doncic trade the fans have express their dissatisfaction on how the Mavericks are conducting business decisions.

#5 Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome was hit with a whopping $25,00 fine for speaking out against the officials after the Cavs 133-129 close margin win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Jerome disputed that the Cavaliers were called for 53 fouls and that a total of 70 free throws 35 for each team. On average the an NBA game has fewer than 40 fouls. Jerome was upset that the teams were called for a combined 53 fouls and shot 70 free throws Sunday, which included 35 fouls for each team. Jerome was fined for saying “I thought the refs were really bad tonight, especially Natalie (Sago), she was really bad,” Jerome said. “Stuff like that happens. They kind of lose control of the game, and you just got to keep your head. I thought that first half was ridiculous. Third quarter was horrendous.”

Jessica Kwong does Headline Sports podcasts every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: How Thompson will fit in Mavericks line up; Ex-49er Gipson suspended six games; plus more news

Published on July 3, 2024 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Former Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson will be joining the Dallas Mavericks for the 2024-25 season. Thompson joins the Mavericks in a three year $50 million deal. (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica, former Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson who is joining the Dallas Mavericks next season as a breaking story on Monday. Thompson joins Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Derrick Lively II. The Mavericks got to the Finals last season but lost to the Boston Celtics in five games. The Mavericks with Thompson joining them aim to finish the job next season.

#2 Thompson’s father Mychal Thompson said he was disappointed that his son Klay didn’t sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. It came down to the Lakers and Mavericks and Klay got the 3 year $50 million offer and it was just too good to pass up. Still Mychal the former Laker would have loved to see Klay finish up his career with the Lakers.

#3 Former San Francisco 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson has been suspended six games by the NFL for PED use. Gipson was a big help for the 49ers in his two seasons helping the younger defensive backs and helped with tips for the defense. Gipson had a good year in 2023 with 60 tackles, had one sack, one interceptions. In 2022 Gipson had 61 tackles and five interceptions.

#4 Jessica, on Monday the New York Mets outfielder Brandon Mimmo around 5 in the morning in his hotel room in Washington DC fell and cut his head. He wasn’t feeling well and was cramping, fainted and fell. When he came to he didn’t know why he was on the floor with a bloody forehead and called Mets trainer who looked him over and took him for tests. Mimmo had tests done he was negative for a concussion, he had a CT scan done and had a bandage on his head it was reported he got a pretty big cut. He spoke to reporters before Monday’s game and said he was sitting out the game as a precaution.

#5 The 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life has some rule changes. The hitter will get 40 pitches to try and convert the ball for home runs. The Derby has been a timed tournament since the 2015 All Star Home Run Derby. So it’s up to the pitcher to get pitch to the hitter to as many times possible. Last season at the Seattle All Star Game the hitter got 43 pitches. The participants have complained in past derbies that they could be injured taking hard swings while trying to rush themselves against the clock. Hitters in this year’s derby will have three minutes in the first two rounds and and two minutes in the championship rounds.

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports podcasts every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Mavericks-Celtics battle in game 1 Finals tonight; Giants Snell out again with groin injury; plus more news

Published on June 6, 2024 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is all smile at the post game conference following the Mavericks win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in game 5 of the Western Conference Finals in Minneapolis on Thu May 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 The Boston Celtics host the Dallas Mavericks in game 1 of the NBA Finals. One of the advantages that the Celtics have opening up these Finals is that they home court advantage and have two top star shooters in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

#2 The Mavericks in their own right have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both who scored 36 points each against the Minnesota Timberwolves in game 5 on Thursday to advance to the Finals.

#3 How often would you expect that a two time Cy Young winner in San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell who started with his new team to go out twice with a groin injury. Snell when he does make a start had been lit up and has a 0-3 record and a large ERA at 9.51.

#4 The last player to be suspended for life in baseball was former Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose now baseball is cracking down again suspending four players and giving a lifetime ban to San Diego Padres minor league infielder Tucupita Marcana for making 387 bets totaling $150,000.

#5 Jessica, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. The Oilers took out the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals 4-2 and the Panthers took out the New York Rangers 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. What’s your take as the Oilers and Panthers face off on Saturday night?

Join Jessica for Headline Sports every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Doncic and Prozingis lead the Mavs to a 130-111 win over the Kings in “Big D”

Published on February 12, 2020 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings wanted to close out their short two-game road trip on a high note by handing the Dallas Mavericks (33-22) a loss on their homecourt heading into the All-Star Break. The Kings (21-33) knew they would have a big task on their hands because All-Starter Luka Doncic was going to make his return to the lineup after missing the previous seven games due to an ankle injury.

The Doncic Factor

For the rest of his career, Luka Doncic will always be tied to the Sacramento Kings in a bad way. Almost everyone associated with the NBA expected the Kings to draft Doncic because of his Euro pedigree and the Euro leanings of the Sacramento front office. When that did not happen, most experts and analysts were shocked. Now that Doncic is on the verge of becoming a real superstar, the decision to pass Doncic in the draft has become magnified.

Every Doncic success will be viewed as a Sacramento failure because they could have drafted Luka with their number two pick in 2018. Doncic will start the All-Star game on Sunday and he could have done that as a Sacramento King.

On Tuesday night, Doncic was the leading scorer in the game putting up 33 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Some will say that Doncic will always be in the mood to punish the Kings. Do not believe that rubbish. Doncic does not care about the Kings. He is very happy playing for billionaire Mark Cuban in Dallas who will spend whatever is necessary to put the players around him to win an NBA Championship.

Lack of defense

The Kings allowed the Mavericks to score at least 30 points in all four quarters of the game on Wednesday night. They allowed Dallas to shoot 56.5% from the field in the game. The Mavs hit 17 of 40 (42.5%) of their 3-point attempts.

A team like Dallas cannot be defeated when their opponent fails to show up on defense.

Top Scorers

Doncic was the game’s leading scorer while Kristaps Prozingis also had a double-double game with 27 points and 13 rebounds plus he added five assists
Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer coming off the bench to put up 22 points to go along with nine assists

The Glass Cleaners

Prozingis was the game’s leading rebounder with 13
Hield, Barnes and Bjelica all pulled down seven rebounds each for SAC

Dropping Dimes

Buddy Hield was the game’s assists leader with his nine dimes
Luca Doncic led Dallas with eight

Up next

The Kings will return to play on Thursday, February 20 when they will host the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks will return to action on February 21 in Orlando.

Kings sweep season series with Mavericks with a 125-121 win on Tuesday night

Published on March 27, 2019 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Mavs starters

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings trailed the Mavericks by eight points with 4:48 to in the game on Tuesday night in Dallas. The Kings then tied the game at 116-all with 1:33 remaining in the contest. Sacramento then took the lead on a Buddy Hield 25-foot 3-point jump shot, and the Kings never looked back. They won the game 125-121.

The victory evened the Kings record at 37-37 for the season. That is a 10 win improvement over the 2017-18 season with eight games to go on the schedule. That means the Kings could win 40 games which would be an incredible 13-game improvement over the previous year.

No reporter or expert would have predicted that the Sacramento Kings would be in a position to win 40 games prior to the beginning of the season. This season has been nothing short of incredible.

Mavs Fox — Fox was the Kings leading scorer Photo: @SacramentoKings

Why did the Kings win the game?

They shot 50.6-percent (44/87) overall for the game. The Kings hit five more field goals than the Mavericks.
Sacramento hit 10-of-23 (43.5%) 3-point attempts.
The Kings were spectacular from the free throw line. They converted 27-of-32 (84.4%) shots from the charity stripe. The number of opportunities and percentage of conversions represents one of their best performances of the season.
SAC took great care of the ball. They turned it over just seven times which resulted in just 11 Dallas points.

Top Performances

Mavs Hield — Hield helped the Kings late in the game Photo: @SacramentoKings

Kings

De’Aaron Fox was the Kings leading scorer with 23 points. His key contribution came at the free throw line where he hit 11-of-12 shots. Fox also dished out eight dimes.
Harrison Barnes made his first trip back to Dallas since being traded. The Mavs honored him with a tribute video during the second quarter. Barnes put up 18 points shooting 7-for-16 from the field and hitting 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
Buddy Hield saved his best until late in the game. Hield scored 17 points. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Hield also grabbed five rebounds.
Willie Cauley-Stein put 16 points in the book. He went 7-for-8 from the floor in the contest. He also hauled in seven rebounds.
Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 14 points versus the Mavs.

Dallas

Luka Doncic was the high-scorer in the game with 28 points. He went just 9-for-20 from the floor but hit 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Doncic made it a double-double by recording 12 rebounds.
Dwight Powell put a double-double in the book by scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He hit 6-of-7 shots from the field and went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Maxi Kleber came off the bench to record 17 points. He went 6-for-10 from the field including four 3-point baskets.

Up next

The Kings travel on to New Orleans where they will play the Pelicans on Thursday night.

The Mavericks travel to Miami where they will face the Heat on Thursday.

Kings bounce back on Sunday night, beating the Mavs 120-113

Published on December 17, 2018December 17, 2018 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The road can be a harsh mistress in the National Basketball Association. Road teams — even strong, veteran squads — suffer humiliating upsets as the visitors in NBA arenas every season.

Sacramento experienced a heartbreaking loss on Friday night as the Golden State Warriors went on a late 17-2 run to defeat the Kings 130-125 on their home court. The Sactown team would have no time to pout about the loss as they had to head out on the road for a tough back-to-back set in Dallas and Minnesota.

First meeting with Dallas of the season

The game on Sunday was the first of three games between the Mavs and Kings in 2018-19. The next game will be played March 21 in Sacramento and the final game will take place on March 26 in the DFW Metroplex.

It was the first time the Kings would face the rookie they passed on to draft Marvin Bagley III — Luka Doncic. Early on, draft experts were convinced that Doncic was going to a King because of his European pedigree. They were wrong.

Even now, NBA reporters are criticizing the Kings for not selecting Doncic. The fact that he is averaging 17.8 points per game along with 6.8 rpg and 4.5 apg may have something to do with that criticism. His 13 20-plus point games may also contribute to that chatter.

The Kings had to play shorthanded

Marvin Bagley III was injured in the Warriors game on Friday night. The Kings rookie star suffered a deep bruise on his left knee and is out for an indefinite period of time. The last word on his condition has him being re-evaluated in 10-14 days.

Iman Shumpert injured his hip in that same game on Friday night and his availability versus the Mavericks was considered a game-time decision. The decision was Shumpert would not be available to play in Dallas.

The first half was a draw

As the teams hit the locker rooms at halftime, the Kings held a 61-58 lead over the Mavericks. The half featured seven lead changes and the game was tied six times. The Kings biggest was nine points while the Mavs’ largest lead was seven points.

Dallas won the battle in the paint 30-28. Sacramento outscored the Mavericks 19-9 on Fast Break Points.

The Kings shot 46.9% (23/49) in the half while Dallas hit 22-of-52 (42.3%) of their shots. Each team connected on four 3-point baskets in first 24-minutes.

Buddy Hield paced the Kings scoring with 17 points while De’Aaron Fox added 14 on his own.

The Mavericks scoring attack was led by Luka Doncic who put up 13 points. Dirk Nowitzki added three points. The significance of those points is they came in his first appearance before the fans in Dallas this season.

SAC increases its lead in the third period

The Kings outscored the Mavericks 32-25 in the third quarter. Sacramento shot 13-for-24 (54.2%) from the field in the third while Dallas hit 8-of-22 (36.4%) from the floor. Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with nine points while Luka Doncic led the Mavs with six points.

With 36 minutes in the book, Sacramento held a 93-83 lead over the team from DFW.

The Mavs kept it close in the fourth

Doncic scored nine points and Jalen Brunson added eight as the Mavericks outscored the Kings 30-27 in the final period. De’Aaron Fox scored eight points for the Kings who added 27 to their total in the last quarter.

When the final the buzzer sounded, the Kings had won the game 120-113.

The Sactown backcourt duo combined for 56 points

Kings guards Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox each scored 28 points in the game (season-high for Hield). Hield shot 12-for-23 for the game while going 3-for-9 from long distance. He also grabbed four rebounds and added two assists.

Fox went hit 11-of-19 attempts while going 0-for-3 from behind the 3-point line. He hit 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Fox dished out five assists and made three steals.

Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica each posted 15 points for the Kings. “Byelly” made it “double-double” by hauling in 10 rebounds.

Mavs scoring

Luka Doncic (remember that name) was the Mavericks leading scorer with 28 points. He also had nine assists. Former Warrior Harrison Barnes recorded 15 points.

The “Monster of the Boards” DeAndre Jordan hauled in 23 rebounds (10 on offense) and scored eight points. The 23 rebounds is a season-high for Jordan.

The standings

The Kings (16-13) are now tied for sixth place in the Western Conference with Memphis and Portland.

Dallas (15-13) is in sole possession of ninth place in the West.

Up next

The Kings will be back in action on Monday night in Minnesota versus a team that just lost four games in a row on the road. The T-Wolves are going to be hungry to get back into the win column so they will be a very dangerous opponent for Sacramento.

The Mavericks will head out on the road and will face the Nuggets in Denver on Tuesday night.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! SacKings will pick second in NBA Draft

Published on May 15, 2018 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The NBA Draft Lottery order was selected in Chicago on Tuesday night, and the big winners of the night were the Sacramento Kings. The Kings entered the evening slotted to pick seventh on draft night in June. The Kings finished the season tied with the Chicago Bulls but lost a coin toss so the Bulls owned the sixth selection pre-lottery draw.

The Kings had just an 18.3-percent chance of winding up in the Top-3 in the Draft Lottery. Those odds may have been helped a little because the team was represented by first-year point guard De’Aaron Fox who has been a positive force for Sacramento ever since his arrival in June of 2017 from the University of Kentucky.

The Kings moved into the Top-3 in the 2017 Draft Lottery back fell back to the number five pick because Philadelphia had the right to swap selections if the Sacramento pick was higher than the Sixers. With the number five selection, the Kings took De’Aaron Fox.

This good fortune becomes even more important because the Kings will not have a first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The 2019 first-round selection was dealt away early in the tenure of Vlade Divac’s administration of basketball operations. This makes the 2018 draft selection even more important than it would normally be because it has to count for two seasons.

Who will be the number two draft pick?

Virtually every mock draft site has Luka Doncic going as the number two selection in the 2018 NBA Draft. He is an international player currently playing with Real Madrid of Spain originally from Slovenia. Doncic is a 6-foot-7 small forward/shooting guard who is capable of playing positionless basketball that has become so popular in the NBA today.

Doncic is just 19-years old and definitely plays older than his years. He is an outstanding assists player who also is a strong rebounder on offense and defense. Doncic is an above average scorer and shooter at the free throw line. He needs work on his three-point shooting percentage and his number of turnovers needs to be lower.

The Kings front office has two prominent members – Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic – who are Eastern Europeans and should be able to make Doncic feel comfortable in Sacramento. One of the Kings up and coming stars is former Euro star – Bogdan Bogdanovic – who certainly understands the style of basketball Doncic has been playing and could help make the transition to the NBA.

It looks like a match made in heaven right? Well, wait just one minute. The Phoenix Suns believe that Doncic can play point guard in the NBA. That’s right. They think this 6-foot-7 budding superstar can play point guard in “the association” alongside their star shooting guard Devin Booker. If the Suns believe Doncic can play that role, he could become the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

If Doncic goes number one, who goes number two?

That would leave DeAndre Ayton from Arizona available for the number two pick. Ayton is a 7-foot-1, 250-pound center who has an NBA body. He scores in multiple ways and has even been developing a three-point shot. Ayton runs the floor well and is not afraid of contact. He has great hands and good footwork.

His weakness is his defense. Ayton tends to get caught flat-footed too many times. He needs to do a better job defending against the pick and roll – a staple of the NBA. He needs to be more consistent about contesting shots.

Ayton is going to be a star in the NBA.

The Suns are going to be under immense pressure to draft the Arizona product and keep him in Phoenix. However, the Suns may opt to pass and go with Doncic who may pay off with more long-term results for them.

Either way, the Kings cannot go wrong. They are going to be able to draft a player who is going to become a star in the NBA.