By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Bouncing back from the lopsided loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 105-99 in a Halloween meeting on Sunday.
With a seemingly comfortable lead trimmed to three points, Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic connected his only triple of the contest from the logo for a six-point lead with four minutes remaining. The hosts held on to improve to 4-2 early in the 2021-22 NBA Regular Season.
Doncic, 22, ended up with a game-high 23 points behind 10/21 field goals. He registered a double-double dishing out ten assists but fell a couple of rebounds shy of a triple-double.
Latvian Kristaps Porzingis missing a third straight game with low back tightness was retaining a larger role for Maxi Kleber until an early exit for the German forward. He was on a roll with seven points and five rebounds in seven minutes but a back strain forced him out.
French point guard Frank Ntilikina ranked himself among the five double-digit scorers for the team coached by Jason Kidd with 12 points, including 2/2 from beyond the arc. Serbian Boban Marjanovic did not play. Ukrainian Alex Len of the Kings also stayed on the bench.
Richaun Holmes was the top performer for the visitors packing a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double. His side fell to 3-3 with its first loss on the road after three straight wins to start 2021-22.
Coming up next, the Mavericks will host the Miami Heat on Tuesday, while the Kings will complete a four-game trip visiting the Utah Jazz on the same day.
Photo Credit: Getty Images