‘A New Puzzle For Us To Put Together’: Dusty May Preaches Winning Habits As Dallas Mavericks Prepare For Winless Sacramento Kings
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks will be favored for the first time this season when they host the winless Sacramento Kings on Monday, and Mavericks coach Dusty May raised that point himself after Sunday’s practice.
Sacramento is 0-6. May offered a few possible explanations for the start, from scheduling to injuries that have thinned the Kings’ depth.
“When you look at Sacramento’s roster and you take out the wins and losses, you couldn’t have more respect for Sabonis. And Zach LaVine being a Team USA guy is capable of putting 50 or 60 on you,” May said. “And then obviously De’Andre Hunter and Precious Achiuwa have really come into their own. So it’s not as if there’s any teams that lack talent. Maybe it’s scheduling. Maybe they haven’t gelled yet. Maybe they still have some injuries where they lack depth. So each game there are different challenges, and this will be the first game that we’re favored, that we’re supposed to win. So that’s a new puzzle for us to put together.”
Domantas Sabonis enters Monday leading the NBA in rebounding at 15.8 per game. He is also averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 assists while shooting 70.4% from the field. Zach LaVine is averaging 23.5 points on 49.5% shooting. De’Andre Hunter is scoring 14.0 points per game and making 45.5% of his 3-point attempts, and Precious Achiuwa is contributing 12.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.
What pleased May’s staff most about Friday’s 116-111 win over the Houston Rockets was how Dallas handled a night when shots were not falling.
“We just gotta be a team that plays the game in front of us at a high level, and we’re more worried about our habits and developing winning habits than anything else, and then playing the game that’s in front of us every game,” May said. “Sometimes the shots aren’t going in. That was the thing we were most pleased with as a staff.”
Houston got several wide-open transition 3-pointers in the first half Friday while Dallas struggled to score, May said, before the Mavericks took control after halftime.
“Things weren’t going necessarily well for us, and we found a way,” May explained. “Each game that’s in front of you looks a little bit differently, and can we be more consistent with our approach and us worried about how we do everything, not who we’re playing.”
Dusty May, Daniel Gafford On Sacramento Kings Rookie Darius Acuff Jr.
Sacramento took Darius Acuff Jr. out of Arkansas with the seventh overall pick in June. He has started all six games, averaging 26.3 points and 6.3 assists in 36.5 minutes. On Saturday, he scored a career-high 38 points in a 136-105 loss at Memphis, making 9-of-14 from 3-point range.
May called Acuff the most productive rookie in the league so far by points per game and usage rate.
“Acuff, I’ve watched him play a lot the last couple years. And he’s a smooth operator. He’s very crafty with the ball in his hands. He doesn’t get sped up,” May said. “He has a unique ability for a young guy to shoot really well from three off the dribble and create the space. And then you look at his frame and stature, he’s strong for his age. But he’s a very advanced guard that can score at all levels, can finish at the rim with creativity, and then also has a really effective mid-range shot as well.”
Daniel Gafford played two seasons at Arkansas before the Chicago Bulls drafted him in 2019, and Acuff spent one season there. Gafford said he cannot wait to share the court with him Monday.
“I watched him a lot,” Gafford said. “Dynamic scorer, he could score the three, he could score a bunch of the baskets, pretty much all-around scorer in general. I can’t wait for him to be out there on the court sharing the court with me.”
Gafford On Facing A Kings Team With ‘Nothing To Lose’
Saturday’s loss in Memphis dropped Sacramento to 0-6. Gafford expects the Kings to come in trying to land the first punch.
“They ain’t got nothing to lose. That’s pretty much, I would say, the main thing that everybody says when it comes to a team in a position to where the Kings are right now,” Gafford said. “Coming in, ideally just with the mindset to really just punch us in the mouth first, we gotta be ready for pretty much anything tomorrow.”
Gafford has caught some of Sacramento’s games, and he said a couple of them came down to the wire despite the record.
“They’re just playing basketball and trying to figure it out on the fly,” Gafford explained. “That’s just with any team. Whenever it comes to me being off the floor, I try to really just kick back and just let everything be and pay attention to the things whenever the time comes.”
Dallas has won three straight. The Mavericks and Kings tip off at 7 p.m. CT on Monday at American Airlines Center, closing Dallas’ three-game homestand. The game airs locally on KFAA and streams on MavsTV+.
