The Dallas Mavericks took down the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, and they have now advanced to the second Play-In game, where they could make the playoffs.
Dallas cruised to an easy 120-106 win behind a hot shooting night from guard Klay Thompson, who finished the game with 23 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 5/7 from behind the three-point line.
Following a slow start to the game, the Mavericks put together an incredible 44-point second quarter, leading Dallas to a comfortable 71-48 lead heading into halftime.
Dallas leaned on its defense again in the second half despite multiple scoring runs by the Kings, holding Sacramento to just 58 points to secure the Play-In Tournament win.
Thompson said after the game that he was “getting great looks in rhythm” and pointed out the performance of Dereck Lively, who each missed a significant amount of time due to injuries in the regular season.
“I missed him dearly a lot this year because he’s so good at flashing the ball and getting me open looks,” he said, per Mavs.com.
“That’s what got me going – just being able to play off his size and get a good open look off the screens.”
Dallas will now begin preparing for Friday night’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. The winner of this matchup will face the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
Thompson said the team has had a “tumultuous season” due to various factors, but he hopes that making the playoffs can rejuvenate the Mavericks’ fan base.
“The injury bug has struck us like I’ve never seen before,” he said, per Mavs.com.
“But we’re still here playing postseason basketball and we can really give the city of Dallas some hope, especially if we go to Memphis and repeat this type of performance.”
The Mavericks will take on the Grizzlies in a road matchup on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Although Memphis finished only slightly above the Mavericks in the Western Conference standings, Dallas could take down the Grizzlies with another hot shooting night and an emphasis on defense.