The Sacramento Kings will host the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center on Thursday.

Things have not gone either team's way since the All-Star break. Dallas (28-43) is just 2-12 in its last 14 games. The team has struggled mightily since making a trade deadline deal for Kristaps Porzingis, who is out for the season while rehabbing an ACL tear. On Wednesday, the Mavs faced the first half of a back-to-back in Portland. Dallas lost, 118-126, but saw a promising night from rookie star Luka Doncic. Doncic, who had shot just 39.6 percent from the field in the month of March prior to Wednesday, scored 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting while going a perfect 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Doncic's performance was the type that Dallas will need to turn its luck around, as the Mavericks are averaging the fourth-fewest points in the league since the break.

Sacramento (34-36), meanwhile, has lost four of its last five games, with its most recent loss coming in heartbreaking fashion. The Kings led by 25 heading into the fourth quarter against Brooklyn on Tuesday, but wound up giving up 45 points in the period and losing the game. Sacramento was outscored 27-18 in the fourth by D'Angelo Russell alone, as the All-Star point guard finished with a career-high 44 points. The Kings will look to bounce back from the tough loss on Thursday, though things have been rough all-around recently. Sacramento is averaging just 9.8 three-pointers per game thus far in March, 1.4 fewer than the team's February average. The Kings now sit six games back of the playoffs, making it a longshot for the team to get back in the postseason this year.