Joel Bartilotta, RotoWire
Dennis Smith Jr.’s strong shooting performance led the No. 3-seeded Dallas Mavericks to an 83-76 victory over the No. 19-seeded Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas Summer League second-round playoff action on Thursday evening at Thomas and Mack Center.
The Mavericks (4-0) established the tone early by building a 23-15 first-quarter lead, an advantage that had grown to 41-31 by halftime. The Kings (1-4) were much more proficient offensively in the second half, as evidenced by their 45 points over the third and fourth periods. However, they lost the turnover battle by a 16-11 margin and ultimately fell short despite outperforming Dallas in all three shooting categories and rebounding. The 64-54 edge that the Mavericks entered the fourth quarter with – which grew to as much as 73-60 at the 6:32 mark of the period -- was key, as the Kings couldn’t get any closer than within five points, which came with 21.9 second remaining.
Smith, the Mavericks’ 2017 first-round pick, posted 25 points (7-15 FG, 4-8 3Pt, 7-9 FT), seven rebounds, two assists and three steals. Johnathan Motley posted 15 points, three rebounds and an assist to lead the bench. Carrick Felix, a 2013 second-round pick of the Cavaliers, tallied 11 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block. Brandon Ashley managed nine points, four rebounds, an assist and a block. Dorian Finney-Smith followed with eight points, seven boards, two assists and two steals. Corey Webster was productive in a reserve role as well with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Yogi Ferrell was notably scoreless over 27 minutes, coming up empty on 10 field-goal attempts. He did supply five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
First-round pick Justin Jackson paced the Kings with 25 points, which he supplemented with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Luis Montero followed with 13 points, nine boards, a steal and a block. Jack Cooley paced the reserves with 10 points while adding three rebounds and a block. Promising second-year big man Georgios Papagiannis contributed a full line of six points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Naz Mitrou-Long registered eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. JaKarr Sampson, who boasts 147 games of NBA regular-season experience, mustered eight points, seven boards, one assist, four blocks and one steal in 20 minutes off the bench.
The Mavericks now move on to a Saturday quarterfinal matchup against the No. 6-seeded Boston Celtics.
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