SACRAMENTO — Klay Thompson scored 16 of his 23 points in Dallas’ dominant second quarter to get redemption for his dud in Sacramento a year ago, helping the Mavericks beat the Kings, 120-106, on Wednesday night to advance in the Play-In Tournament.
One year to the day when Thompson missed all 10 shots in his final game for Golden State in a play-in loss in Sacramento, Thompson fueled the win with four 3-pointers during Dallas’ 44-point second quarter. That turned the game into a laugher and kept the Mavericks’ chaotic season alive for at least one more game.
“Human nature, when you end a season on a sour note like that you want to come out and prove people wrong,” Thompson said. “But I thought I did a good job to start the game of trying to dish, rebound, play defense. The shots came to me after that.”
Dallas advanced to play at Memphis on Friday night for the chance to get into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The winner of that game will open the playoffs on Sunday at top-seeded Oklahoma City.
The Mavs have undergone a rough season after trading young superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a seismic trade that brought Anthony Davis to Dallas and vitriol from the fan base to the organization.
Star point guard Kyrie Irving went down with a season-ending knee injury shortly after that trade, ending any realistic hopes of another deep playoff run after making it to the NBA Finals last season.
“We’ve had a tumultuous season to say the least,” Thompson said. “The injury bug has struck us like I’ve never seen before. But we’re still here playing postseason basketball. We can really give the city of Dallas some hope, especially if we go to Memphis and repeat this type of performance.”
Dallas opened the second quarter with a 20-6 run fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Thompson. Thompson hit two more 3-pointers later in the quarter as the Mavs built the lead to 23 points at the half, removing any drama.
“We shot it very well, get stops on defense and were able to run,” said Davis, who led Dallas with 27 points to go with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. “Offense was clicking. We had what, 44 in the quarter? We played with a lot of pace and opened up the game.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points for the Kings, and and Zach LaVine added 20.
It was a disappointing ending to an underwhelming season for the Kings, who fired Coach Mike Brown in December and traded star point guard De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in February. It all led to Sacramento missing the playoffs for the 18th time in 19 seasons, raising questions about the team’s future starting with the status of interim coach Doug Christie.
“This is where I want to be,” Christie said. “You guys know that. I need to finish what I started.”
In the Eastern Conference game …
Heat 109, Bulls 90: Tyler Herro and the Miami had it going right from the start. Another performance like that could catapult the Heat into the playoffs.
Herro scored 38 points, and the 10th-seeded Heat dominated ninth-seeded host Chicago to advance in the Play-In Tournament.
Herro scored 23 points as Miami grabbed a 71-47 halftime lead, and the Heat knocked the Bulls out of the play-in for the third year in a row. Miami will play at Atlanta on Friday for a chance to face top-seeded Cleveland in a best-of-seven first-round series. The eighth-seeded Hawks lost to seventh-seeded Orlando on Tuesday.
“We’re only halfway there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have the luxury of having the one game and then you’re automatically in. Guys feel great about this win and really put a lot into this. This is not something that could just happen overnight. I feel like there’s been some good things happening the last several weeks.”
Getting to this point hasn’t been easy for the Heat. There was the standoff with Jimmy Butler that ended with sending him to Golden State in a trade deadline deal in February, and a 10-game losing streak in March. Miami then won eight of 12 to close the regular season and finish 10th in the East at 37-45.
Against Chicago, Herro made his first eight shots and was 13 for 19 in the game.
Andrew Wiggins had 20 points and nine rebounds. Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Davion Mitchell chipped in with 15 points and nine assists. The Heat had 10 steals and seven blocked shots, and it all added up to payback for a three-game sweep in the regular season.
Josh Giddey had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. Coby White scored 17, though he shot 5 for 20 from the field. Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“We didn’t really have game-plan discipline,” White said. “We beat them in the regular season. We thought if we just do what we normally do, then we’ll be good. But obviously, they’ve got guys that have been to the Finals. They’ve got guys that know what it takes. They got a head coach who’s one of the best head coaches in the league. They came in and they were the better team tonight.”
The Bulls got within 13 early in the fourth quarter, only to get shut down the rest of the way and miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.
“A lot of us made big-time buckets at the right time,” Adebayo said.
Herro set the tone, making all eight shots as the Heat broke the game open in the first half. He was hardly a one-man show, with Wiggins scoring 12 in the half and Adebayo adding 11 points and seven rebounds.
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