Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET the Dallas Mavericks (11-8) will head to Sacramento to take on the short-handed Kings (5-13), who will be down several men after dealing multiple players to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Rudy Gay. The game can be live streamed here; Mavs fans can listen to the action on Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, while Kings fans can tune in to KHTK CBS Sports 1140 AM.
The Kings dealt Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson John Salmons and Chuck Hayes to the Raptors for Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy. Gay received a glowing review from Toronto coach Dwayne Casey, who said "Rudy is a prince of a guy. He's an athletic, dynamic wing player, he gets to the basket at will and can shoot the ball and handle the ball." The move signals a big shift for the Kings, as they've now acquired an offensive centerpiece and paved the way for point guard Isaiah Thomas and rookie shooting guard Ben McLemore to get as much floor time as they need.
McLemore was instrumental in sending Sacramento's most recent game vs. Utah to overtime, eventually leading to a Kings win. "Isaiah was telling me after the huddle that I was going to hit a big shot," McLemore said. "And I thought I was going to make it even though I had missed a couple of 3s earlier."
The Mavericks have played well of late, most recently earning a victory over the Portland Trailblazers, one of the best teams in the NBA this year. They relied on 28 points from Dirk Nowitizki in that game, who proved that he's still a lethal offensive player despite being overshadowed by younger stars these days.
"We were throwing it to (Dirk) every time," coach Rick Carlisle said. "You know, he's going to cause something to happen, something good, and he's going to make it tough on them, so we've got to get the ball in his hands."
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