Anthony Davis ailing as Dallas Mavericks visit Sacramento Kings in NBA
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Dallas Mavericks' Anthony Davis sitting on the bench after picking up an injury in their NBA game against the hosts Golden State Warriors during Dallas' 126-116 loss at Chase Center on Dec 25.
PHOTO: IMAGN IMAGES
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SACRAMENTO – Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd hopes his team will be better equipped to deal with playing without Anthony Davis, who is set to miss their National Basketball Association (NBA) game at the Sacramento Kings on Dec 27 afternoon (Dec 28 morning, Singapore time).
The star man experienced spasms in his right groin early in the second quarter of the Mavericks’ 126-116 loss at the Golden State Warriors on Dec 25. He left the game and never returned, and multiple reports on Dec 26 indicated that he likely would miss the final two games of Dallas’ road trip.
The Mavericks (12-20) visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec 29 and will get two days off before they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan 1.
Without Davis around for most of the game, the Warriors dominated the Mavericks in rebounds, gaining a 49-41 overall advantage and 13-3 on the offensive glass. Golden State, one of the shortest teams in the league, enjoyed a 24-6 advantage in second-chance points.
“Losing AD (Anthony Davis) definitely hurt us, he’s one of our best players,” Kidd said. “We just couldn’t get a stop when we needed to. This is a good game for us to learn from.”
Backup centre Daniel Gafford played 15 minutes off the Dallas bench, but it was P.J. Washington and Cooper Flagg who did most of the heavy lifting among the Mavericks’ big men in Davis’ absence.
For the second game in a row, Flagg will be making his NBA debut at a new arena. He has made particularly great first impressions in trips to Western Conference sides, scoring 35 points in Los Angeles against the Clippers, 24 at Denver and 42 at Utah, before the 27 against the Warriors.
The Mavericks and Kings will be meeting for the first time this season.
Sacramento (7-23) have been transitioning to a replacement centre for the past 16 games as Domantas Sabonis has been out with a knee injury. The Kings have won just four of those games and are currently in last place in the West.
Flagg will get an opportunity to renew acquaintances with a fellow Atlantic Coast Conference alumnus if Maxime Raynaud makes his ninth straight start in Sabonis’ place. The rookie from Stanford University has averaged 14.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in his first eight NBA starts, recording four double-doubles along the way.
The Kings will be looking to break even on a four-game homestand that has included a 125-124 overtime win over the Houston Rockets. Sacramento were beaten 136-127 by the Detroit Pistons in their most recent game on Dec 23.
The Kings might find themselves another man down for the game against Dallas, as Keegan Murray sat out the second half of the Detroit game with a strained right calf.
“As you can see, he’s always missed,” Kings coach Doug Christie said of Murray, whose 15-game absence at the beginning of the season following thumb surgery contributed to Sacramento’s 3-12 struggle out of the gate. “(We miss) all that he brings to the game – size, athleticism, defence, shooting.” REUTERS
