Favored for the First Time All Season: The Mavs Chase a Four-Game Streak Tonight Against the Winless Kings

By Marcus Delaney, RF Sports Radio Mavericks voice

Mavs Nation, here is a sentence nobody expected to read in early November: Dallas is the favorite tonight, and it is the first time all season. After knocking off Miami, Oklahoma City and Houston last week, the Mavericks now have to beat the one team that has not beaten anybody.

The facts

Dallas (4-2) hosts Sacramento (0-6) tonight at 7 p.m. Central at American Airlines Center, on KFAA-29 and MavsTV+, per Mavs.com. The Kings have the worst record in the NBA, and the AP preview notes the Mavericks have won three straight.

"This will be the first game that we're favored, that we're supposed to win," coach Dusty May said, per Mavs.com. "That's a new puzzle for us to put together."

The Kings can still score. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 pick out of Arkansas, averages 26.3 points and 6.3 assists and leads all rookies in scoring, per Mavs.com. Zach LaVine averages 23.5 points, and Domantas Sabonis leads the league at 15.8 rebounds. SI's game page lists Keegan Murray (ankle), Maxime Raynaud (knee) and Ben Simmons as out for Sacramento.

For Dallas, Naji Marshall practiced Sunday after missing three games with an illness and will play, May said, per Mavs.com. Santi Aldama, who had right knee surgery in March and has not played for Dallas yet, is "doing more and more," and May said his starting date is "in the near future."

A win would give Dallas its first four-game winning streak since Jan. 15-22 of last season and sweep the three-game homestand, per Mavs.com. Five of Sacramento's six losses have come by 11 points or more. The Mavs have also held their last five opponents to 36 percent or worse from three. Dallas visits San Antonio on Wednesday.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: I love that May said the quiet part out loud. Being the hunted is a different skill than being the hunter. Last week this team played with a chip on its shoulder against three contenders. Tonight there is no chip, and that is exactly when young teams start taking bad shots and jogging back on defense.

Here is what I want to see. Win the glass against Sabonis, who is a walking double-double, and make Acuff work for everything. If Dallas does that, Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving should be resting by the middle of the fourth quarter.

And watch the three-point defense. Holding five straight teams in check from deep is not luck. That is effort, and effort is the first thing that disappears on a Monday night against an 0-6 team.

What to watch next

Watch the final injury report this afternoon and the Spurs on Wednesday. For our first look at this week, read our Nov. 1 Mavs week-ahead column, and follow the season on our Dallas Mavericks page.

Radio question: does a young Mavs team handle being the favorite tonight, or is this exactly the kind of game that sneaks up on them?

Sources: Mavs.com - Mavericks-Kings preview: Mavs face a very different challenge in the winless Kings; AP via Sportsnet - Kings at Mavericks preview, Nov. 2, 2026; SI - Sacramento Kings vs Dallas Mavericks preview and injuries, Nov. 2, 2026; Dallas Sports Journal - Mavericks vs. Kings: Dusty May focuses on winning habits.