Scenario: Mavs lead 44-38 with 2:13 remaining in the second quarter

You will often hear coaches and commentators talk about just how important closing out quarters is. Unfortunately, the Mavericks must not have received that message. Sporting a six-point edge with a little over two minutes to go, the Kings made their push.

They started it off by attacking Dirk. The Mavs were attempting to hide Dirk on Willie Cauley-Stein all night because we all know Dirk can barely move at this point. Apparently, He did not hide very well because the Kings went right after him to start off their run. Willie caught him at the top of the key and faced Dirk up, and once he realized that Zach Randolph had occupied Nerlens Noel, he drove hard and finished over the late rotating big man.

After a couple of Yogi Ferrell free throws to go up five, the Kings broke into a simple high pick and roll involving George Hill and Zach Randolph. Nerlens sunk into the lane, baiting George Hill into taking a tough two point shot. Hill obliged, but Dirk couldn’t find Cauley-Stein and get a body on him, so he had easy access to an offensive rebound. Once the ball was secure, the Kings backed it out and fed Zach Randolph on his preferred right block. He methodically backed Nerlens down, turned over his right shoulder and tossed in an easy baby hook. 46-43, Mavs.

The Mavs quickly inbounded the ball, and Yogi raced up the floor to shoot the Devin Harris 2 for 1 special. After a predictable miss, the Kings broke into their set but almost handed the ball right back after Nerlens deflected a pass into the backcourt where a mad scramble ensued. While deflections are usually a good thing, in this particular instance it was deemed that the ball changed possession, so when the Mavs didn’t come up with the ball, it  effectively killed their 2 for 1 and gave the Kings the last shot. George Hill took full advantage by cooking up Wes Mathews with a nice pull up three before the buzzer, tying the game. 

 

Scenario: Kings lead 66-58 with 3:43 remaining in the third quarter

Going into the half down three? YOU THOUGHT pic.twitter.com/v8PtHe4uJZ

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 21, 2017

 

The entire third quarter was one to forget for the Mavericks. It was one of awful decision making, brick laying on offense, and overall sloppiness. There was a stretch of three straight possessions late in the third that ended with a hideous turnover, which seemingly demoralized the team and the crowd in their comeback effort. 

The first of which came off a nice defensive possession where the Mavericks got a steal. They had numbers on the break, So Yogi centered the ball with with Barnes and Mathews running the wing and Salah filling the lane. He got one of the Kings to commit to him, so he pitched the ball to the corner expecting Mathews to run to the three point line as he usually does. However, Wes decided to cut to the basket looking for a layup instead, likely due to his 0-7 shooting night. Either way, the Mavericks squandered an easy opportunity to cut into the lead. 

The Mavericks rebounded though with another excellent defensive possession. After forcing a late clock heave from Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes quickly pushed the ball up the floor, and nobody decided to pick him up. As he was driving to basket, Willie Cauley-Stein rotated off of Salah and met Barnes at the rim. HB made a nice, slick pass to Salah who was waiting under the basket, but he clumsily fumbled the pass. After being kicked around between Salah and Harrison Barnes, the ball embarrassingly rolled out of bounds and the Mavs missed another chance. Gross. 

Zach Randolph split a pair of free throws on the next Kings possession, and the Mavs elected to push the pace and break into a quick side pick and roll. The Kings played what is called “Ice” defense, where they essentially force the ball to the sideline to try and avoid middle penetration. It was well defended by Sacramento, but Yogi still attempted to snake back into the middle of the floor, where Zach Randolph of all people was in a good stance and was able to poke the ball away and ignite a Kings fast break.

Three possessions, ZERO shot attempts at a critical juncture of the game. It’s understandable why the Mavericks would trail by 11 going into the final quarter.

Scenario: Kings lead 85-83 with 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter

 

The Mavericks has finally cut the lead all the way down to two in the final two minutes. As any  good coach would do, Joeger called upon the man who was his hottest guy all night, George Hill. Joeger called for a simple spread pick and roll, and because the Mavericks were cross matched with Barnes on Randolph and Mathews on Hill, they could afford to switch this exchange. As the screen came, they communicated it well and effectively made the switch. However, Barnes was too low. Hill recognized that Barnes had both heals inside the three point line, and raised to shoot. Realizing he was too low as Hill began to shoot, Barnes closed out far too aggressive not allowing Hill a clean landing. The referee blew his whistle to hit Barnes with a shooting foul AND the shot still dropped, essentially putting the dagger in the heart of MFFL’s. 

Hill with the clutch 3 plus the harm! pic.twitter.com/Ct56KrcJUM

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 21, 2017

Scenario: Kings lead 89-86 with 46.8 second remaining the fourth quarter

The Mavericks needed one stop and one rebound to have a chance at tying the game. Unfortunately,  they got only one of those.

Dave Joeger just kept it simple. He called a right block post up for Z-Bo. Nerlens did a nice job pushing him off of his spot and deflecting the entry pass. A key part of being a great defender is doing your work early, before the ball gets there. That is the biggest reason Nerlens forces Zach into a miss. However, the ball took a short hop right into the waiting arms of Buddy Hield. Dorian Finney-Smith did have inside position on Hield, but when he crashed the glass the shot seemingly caromed into the perfect spot, and the Kings stole a critical possession from the Mavericks.

A very unlucky break. 

Scenario: Kings lead 89-86 with 21 seconds remaining, 4th I quarter

After collecting a crucial offensive rebound on the previous play, the Kings wound down the clock and put George Hill in a spread pick and roll. Noel sunk into the lane inviting the long two, and Wes Mathews trailed closely behind Hill  as he came off the screen. It was well defended by both of them, Wes pressured the leaning elbow jumper from behind, but it didn’t matter. It was George Hill’s night, and he put the Mavericks away for good.. 

 

KINGS OF THE HILL pic.twitter.com/A7RiGsdhYk

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 21, 2017

 

Photos

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”18″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_horizontal_filmstrip” image_crop=”0″ image_pan=”1″ show_playback_controls=”1″ show_captions=”0″ caption_class=”caption_overlay_bottom” caption_height=”70″ aspect_ratio=”1.5″ width=”100″ width_unit=”%” transition=”fade” transition_speed=”1″ slideshow_speed=”5″ border_size=”0″ border_color=”#ffffff” override_thumbnail_settings=”1″ thumbnail_width=”120″ thumbnail_height=”90″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ ngg_triggers_display=”always” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]