Luka Doncic recorded 33 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in his return from an ankle injury to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 130-111 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Doncic missed seven games with the injury and the Mavericks went 3-4 without the All-Star point guard. Doncic was 10-of-18 shooting -- including 3 of 7 from 3-point range -- and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line in 31 minutes before exiting with 6:26 remaining.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting and also contributed 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. made five 3-pointers on his way to scoring 19 points, and Seth Curry added 18 for Dallas, which has a 33-22 record entering the All-Star break.
Buddy Hield posted 22 points and nine assists for the Kings, who have dropped back-to-back games after winning six of their previous eight contests.
De'Aaron Fox added 16 points, Kent Bazemore had 15 points and seven rebounds, Harry Giles III scored 11 points and Nemanja Bjelica had 10 points.
Sacramento (21-33) shot just 41.4 percent from the field and was 12 of 39 from behind the arc.
The Mavericks shot 56.5 percent from the field, including 17 of 40 from 3-point range.
Dallas led by 11 at the break before Porzingis scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third quarter as the lead reached 23 during the stanza.
The Mavericks pushed their advantage to 19 when Porzingis knocked down a 17-footer to make it 78-59 with 6:58 left in the quarter.
Sacramento trimmed its deficit to 14, but Porzingis scored seven points during a 9-2 burst to give the Mavericks an 89-68 advantage with 3:27 remaining in the quarter.
Hardaway buried a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 93-70 with 2:22 left before Dallas took a 96-77 lead into the final quarter.
The Kings moved within 101-86 on Bazemore's three-point play with 10 minutes left. But the Mavericks answered with a 12-5 surge with Doncic capping it with a 3-pointer to make it 113-91 with 7:50 to play.
The lead topped out at 25 points.
Doncic looked spry in his first contest since Jan. 28 as he registered 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the first half as Dallas took a 63-52 lead.
--Field Level Media
Sacramento | Dallas | |
Buddy Hield 22 | Scoring | Luka Doncic 33 |
Buddy Hield 9 | Assists | Luka Doncic 8 |
Harrison Barnes 7 | Rebounds | Kristaps Porzingis 13 |
De'Aaron Fox 6 | Free Throws Made | Luka Doncic 10 |
Kent Bazemore 1 | Steals | Tim Hardaway Jr. 1 |
De'Aaron Fox 1 | Blocks | Kristaps Porzingis 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Sacramento | 111 | 41.4 | 12-39 | 17-22 | 26 | 40 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
Dallas | 130 | 56.5 | 17-40 | 17-21 | 34 | 47 | 7 | 1 | 12 |