SACRAMENTO -- Needing a win to move on from Tuesday's epic collapse against the Nets, the Kings played with pace, shared the ball and hit their shots Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks.
Buddy Hield hit his shots, De'Aaron Fox put on the jets and both Marvin Bagley and Willie Cauley-Stein posted doubles to help push the Kings to a 116-100 victory.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings moves within a game of .500 at 35-36 on the season.
Bagley vs. Doncic
The Kings took a beating in the national media when they selected Bagley with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft. The rookie big continues to show why he was worthy of the pick.
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The 20-year-old power forward struggled with his shot at times, but still managed to notch 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting to go with 12 rebounds and four blocks. He was active on both ends of the floor and made a tremendous impact on the outcome of the game.
Luka Doncic was the player many thought the Kings would select at two. When the Kings passed, Dallas moved up to select the talented guard out of Slovenia. Doncic struggled with his shot, shooting just 4-of-19 from the field to finish with 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
While they didn't match up against each other often, both look like top-level young players.
Returning to form
After failing to break the 20 point mark in three straight games and posting just eight in the Kings' loss to the Nets on Tuesday, Hield woke up against Dallas.
Sacramento's leading scorer hit 7-of-13 from long range to finish the night with a team-high 29 points.
Hield is the barometer for this team. When he plays well, the Kings are tough to beat.
Revenge game
Justin Jackson played rotational minutes throughout the first half of the season with the Kings before heading to the Mavericks with Zach Randolph in exchange for Harrison Barnes at the trade deadline.
He returned to his old stomping grounds Thursday evening and looked pumped up against his former team. The 23-year-old wing was active and hit his shots, scoring 19 points on 9-for-16 shooting for Dallas in 32 minutes of action.
