DALLAS – Deron Williams has been back with his hometown Dallas Mavericks for a couple of months now.
He might have finally had his homecoming parade. Or homecoming dogpile, if you will.
Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the second overtime, and the Mavericks pulled out a wild 117-116 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night for their 22nd consecutive home victory against the Kings.
Williams took an inbounds pass from Devin Harris with 2.3 seconds left, pump faked to get Rudy Gay to fly by him in the left corner and the ball went in after the horn sounded.
With his shot headed toward the hoop, Williams backpedaled a few steps to his right and bumped Kings coach George Karl back into a seat on the Sacramento bench just as the ball went in. An instant later, teammates swarmed Williams on the court.
“That was definitely my first Mavericks mob scene,” said the veteran guard, who led Dallas with 25 points and was 3 of 6 from long range. “I was at the very bottom of the pile, then all of a sudden it went dark and I couldn’t breathe.”
Dirk Nowitzki hit an earlier 3 as the Mavericks scored the last eight points after falling behind 116-109 with 1:20 left in the second overtime.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 35 for his third straight 30-point game for the Kings, including a buzzer-beating layup for a 98-all tie at the end of regulation.
Former Dallas guard Rajon Rondo was out with back spasms in his first visit since an acrimonious split after an ill-fated half-season with the Mavericks.
Dallas’ run against Sacramento is the second-longest current streak versus one team in the NBA behind San Antonio’s 32-game run against Golden State, according to STATS.
The Kings haven’t won a regular-season game in Dallas since Feb. 27, 2003, when they won 126-124 in overtime. Sacramento did win a game in Dallas during a five-game playoff series victory over the Mavericks in 2004.
The Kings just missed out on snapping the long Dallas skid a night after winning in Oklahoma City for the first time in 15 tries.
“I think it was an incredible game,” Cousins said. “There were big shots from them, big shots from us. I guess it was just whoever made the biggest shot. It was a good game. It was a fun game.”
Cousins, who had an odd triple-double with 17 rebounds and 10 turnovers, also had a big blocked shot on Zaza Pachulia in the second extra period. Gay, who scored 31 points, hit a 3-pointer at the other end for a 116-109 lead with 1:20 left.
In other results, NY Knicks 107, Atlanta 101; Chicago 117, Milwaukee 106; Dallas 117, Sacramento 116 (OT); Golden State 109 L.A. Lakers 88. (AP)