Mavericks' curse: Irving goes down injured in defeat to Kings

There's no one picking up the slack at American Airlines Center. The Dallas Mavericks added their fourth loss in their last five games, falling at home to the Sacramento Kings (98-122), who gave the home team no chance to try to mount a comeback.

But the loss to the Kings was perhaps the least bad news of the night for the Mavericks. Kyrie Irving, the leader of the franchise since Luka Doncic left for the Los Angeles Lakers, had to leave the court injured after just nine minutes.

The medical report indicates a knee injury. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd spoke about his star's injury after the game, saying "it was bad luck" and that he hopes "it's not serious."

Irving joins a long list of casualties for the Mavericks that includes several of their best players: Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.

Statistically, the Kings were far superior. Their starting five scored 87 of the team's 122 points. Of note were the performances of Zach LaVine (22 points) and DeMar DeRozan (20 points). On the Mavs, the efforts from Kai Jones (21 points) and Naji Marshall (18 points) were not enough.

SGA' deserves the MVP

The other outstanding duel of the day was the one that took place at the Paycom Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to beat the Houston Rockets (137-128) thanks to a sensational third quarter on offense. Missing pieces from the Rockets' roster diminished their chances of victory, although they stood up to the leaders of the Western Conference.

And, as it could not be otherwise, the Thunder's victory has a clear star. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, immersed in the race for Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the regular season. He once again surpassed the half-century mark in scoring (51 points), the fourth time he has done so in just over a month.

The Canadian was well aided by Jalen Williams, who had 24 points. Cam Whitmore, with a double-double (27 points and 11 rebounds) and Reed Sheppard (25 points) gave hope to a Rockets team that, ultimately, could not defeat the Thunder.