DALLAS — Buddy Hield scored 27 points, Marvin Bagley III had 23 points and nine rebounds and Sacramento beat Dallas 111-99 on Sunday night, giving the also-ran Kings a season sweep of the playoff-contending Mavericks.
All three games were in a span of 15 days, which the Mavericks finished with a 6-0 record against the other teams while going 0-3 for the second time in three seasons against the Kings.
Luka Doncic scored 30 points before getting ejected in the final minute after his second technical foul in another game without European sidekick Kristaps Porzingis, who is battling right knee soreness. Dallas sixth man Tim Hardaway Jr. missed his second game of the season with right ankle soreness.
But the Kings, 12th in the Western Conference and with little hope of reaching the 10th seed that would get them into the play-in tournament, were short-handed, too.
Rookie Tyrese Halliburton was forced to leave in the third quarter with a left knee injury, with the Kings already missing two other starters in De’Aaron Fox (COVID-19 protocols) and Harrison Barnes (left thigh injury).
Halliburton dribbled behind his back near midcourt before going down suddenly. Several players from both teams surrounded him, and he was initially helped off the court before limping the rest of the way to the locker room on his own.
Doncic’s 15th technical foul of the season came as coach Rick Carlisle also got his second of the game to get ejected with 31 seconds remaining. The Dallas sensation is one technical from a one-game suspension.
The Kings never trailed in the two games in Dallas, taking an 8-0 lead both times, then staying in front after the Mavericks got even multiple times in the second quarter.
Sacramento won the first game in Dallas 121-107 and trailed for just 42 seconds in a 113-106 win at home before blitzing the Mavericks again. The Kings were coming off an uplifting win at the Los Angeles Lakers in LeBron James’ return from an ankle injury, while Dallas was finishing a back-to-back with its fifth game in seven days.
The Mavericks dropped a half-game behind the Lakers for fifth place in the West. LA was playing later.
Bagley returned to the startling lineup in his second game back after missing 23 with a broken left hand. While coach Luke Walton said he was still on a minutes restriction, he played 34 while going 10 of 16 from the field.
Bagley and Hield combined for 13 of the points on a 15-3 run that gave the Kings an 87-70 lead in the third quarter.
The Mavericks were within six in the final two minutes when Hield just beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer for a 106-97 lead. Hield was 6 of 10 from deep while the Kings went 11 of 28 as a team compared to 6 of 35 (17%) for Dallas against the team with the NBA’s worst defensive rating.
TIP-INS
Kings: Two games removed from his first career start, F Chimezie Metu was out with lower back soreness. He missed 16 games earlier in the season because of a broken right wrist. … Richaun Holmes scored 17 points, and former Dallas player Delon Wright had 14, including two big buckets to help help Sacramento in front in the fourth quarter.
Mavericks: Jalen Brunson scored 17 points, Dwight Powell had 13 and Josh Richardson 11. … Porzingis was out for the fifth time in six games.
UP NEXT
Kings: The third game on a four-game trip is Tuesday in Oklahoma City. It’s the first of three games between the teams in a span of eight days.
Mavericks: Dallas goes to Miami on Tuesday looking for a season sweep of the Heat, who had won both games in the previous three seasons.
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