Brandon Williams hits a late 3-pointer, gives Mavericks 100-98 win over Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 20 points, Brandon Williams hit the winning 3-pointer with 33.9 seconds to play, and the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 100-98 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night to snap a seven-game road losing streak.

Anthony Davis had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Mavericks, who trailed 98-97 when Williams hit his 3-pointer for a 100-98 lead.

The Kings had multiple chances to retake the lead, but Dennis Schroder, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan all missed 3-point tries in the final seconds.

Sacramento, which lost its sixth game in a row, was led by DeRozan with 21 points. Zach LaVine had 20 and Maxime Reynaud added 14. The Kings' last win was Dec. 27 against Dallas. The Kings at 8-29 have the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

Williams ended up with 18 for Dallas, and Naji Marshall had 15. Daniel Gafford had 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who have won back-to-back games following a four-game losing streak. They beat the Rockets on Saturday, 110-104.

The Mavericks trailed 58-46 at halftime, but cut the deficit to 78-76 after three. The Mavericks outscored the Kings by 14 points over the final two quarters.

Even though LaVine returned to the lineup after a nine-game absence due to a left ankle sprain, the Kings played without forward Keegan Murray, who suffered a left ankle sprain in Sunday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He will be reevaluated in three to four weeks. Murray missed the start of the season with a thumb injury.

Dallas plays at Utah on Thursday night.

Sacramento is at Golden State on Friday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Sacramento Kings guard Demar Derozan (10) shoots a 3-point shot over Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) reacts after dunking the ball against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis, behind, shoots a layup over Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg dribbles the ball up court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo.

The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and chased after the moon to nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.

It was the first such engine firing for a space crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot on Dec. 7, 1972. NASA reported that preliminary reports indicate it went well.

NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.

Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s grand plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will dash past the moon then hang a U-turn and zip straight home without stopping on land. In the process, they will become the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970. They also may become the fastest during their reentry at flight’s end on April 10.

Glover, Koch and Hansen already have made history as the first Black, the first woman and the first non-U.S. citizen to launch to the moon. Apollo’s 24 lunar travelers were all white men.

To set the mood for the day’s main event, Mission Control woke up the crew with John Legend’s “Green Light” featuring Andre 3000 and a medley of NASA teams cheering them.

“We are ready to go,” pilot Victor Glover said.

Mission Control gave the final go-ahead minutes before the critical engine firing, telling the astronauts that they were embarking on “humanity’s lunar homecoming arc” to bring them back to Earth. Koch replied: “With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it.”

The next major milestone will be Monday’s lunar flyby.

Orion will zoom 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon before turning back, providing unprecedented and illuminated views of the lunar far side, at least for human eyes. The cosmos will even treat the Artemis II astronauts to a total solar eclipse as the moon temporarily blocks the sun from their perspective.

While awaiting their orbital departure earlier Thursday, the astronauts savored the views of Earth from tens of thousands of miles high. Koch told Mission Control that they can make out the entire coastlines of continents and even the South Pole, her old stomping ground.

“It is just absolutely phenomenal,” radioed Koch, who spent a year at an Antarctic research station before joining NASA.

NASA is counting on the test flight to kickstart the entire Artemis program and lead to a moon landing by two astronauts in 2028. Orion’s toilet may need some design tweaks before that happens.

The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned as soon as the Artemis crew reached orbit Wednesday evening. Mission Control guided astronaut Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going, but not before having to resort to using contingency urine storage bags.

Controllers also managed to bump up the cabin temperature. It was so cold earlier in the flight that the astronauts had to dig into their suitcases for long-sleeved clothes.

The contingency urine bags came in handy later in the day. Mission Control ordered the crew to fill a bunch of the empty bags with water from the capsule’s dispenser. A valve issue arose with the dispenser following liftoff, and NASA wanted plenty of drinking water on hand for the crew in case the problem worsened. The astronauts used straws and syringes to fill the pouches with more than 2 gallons (7 liters) worth before pivoting to the moon.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station's cupola, on March 30, 2026. (Jessica Meir/NASA via AP)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)