Anthony Davis recorded 27 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots and the Dallas Mavericks kept their playoff bid alive with a convincing 120-106 victory over the host Sacramento Kings in a Western Conference play-in game on Wednesday night.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points, P.J. Washington had 17 points and nine boards and Brandon Williams had 17 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who will visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night in the final West play-in contest. The winner earns the No. 8 seed and will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
DeMar DeRozan registered 33 points and seven rebounds and Zach LaVine added 20 points and nine assists for Sacramento, which was eliminated with Wednesday’s setback. Domantas Sabonis added 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for the Kings.
The contest marked just the 10th time Davis had played for Dallas since being acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in the Luka Doncic deal. Most recently, Davis has been dealing with an adductor injury.
Thompson made 8 of 11 shots, including 5 of 7 from behind the arc, in a superior showing compared with what he experienced in the play-in round last season against Sacramento.
On that occasion, Thompson missed all 10 shots and went scoreless in 32 minutes of the 118-94 loss. It was his final game with the Golden State Warriors.
Dante Exum added 11 points for Dallas, which shot 49.4 percent from the field and connected on 14 of 28 from 3-point range.
The Kings committed 18 turnovers, made 46.1 percent of their field-goal attempts and were 13 of 33 from behind the arc. Devin Carter scored 10 points off the bench.
Sacramento trailed by 23 points at halftime and never put up a legitimate fight the rest of the way. When Davis made back-to-back baskets to make it 107-85 just before the midway point of the fourth quarter, it was apparent the Mavericks were on their way to staying alive.
Thompson scored 16 points in the second quarter on perfect shooting — including four treys in a span of 3:03 — as Dallas erupted for 44 points en route to a 71-48 halftime lead. DeRozan had 13 points in the half for the Kings, who committed 12 turnovers in the half compared to just three for the Mavericks.
The game was tied at 29 before Dallas exploded with a 24-10 burst to open up a 14-point lead. All four of Thompson’s treys came during the burst.
Davis hit consecutive 3-pointers for the final points of the half.
After Davis drained another trey to make it 80-54 with 8:31 left in the third quarter, the Kings rattled off 10 straight points. But Dallas took a comfortable 99-81 advantage into the final stanza.
