The Kings finally won, 115-100 over Dallas, behind 25 from rookie Darius Acuff Jr.

The Sacramento Kings won for the first time this season, beating the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 on Monday night at American Airlines Center.

They had lost their first six games, and the pressure around the team had been building for a week.

Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. led Sacramento with 25 points, and Malik Monk came off the bench for 24 points and seven assists.

The quarter scores were even for two periods and then tilted: 19-18, 35-35, 27-21, 34-26.

Monk's night was the difference. He had been working his way back from an ankle injury, and against Dallas the ankle looked fine.

He finished plus-27 in his minutes, which is the largest margin on a team that had been losing those minutes all season.

The second unit has been Sacramento's problem area. On Monday it was the reason the Kings pulled away in the third and fourth quarters.

Monk's seven assists matter as much as the 24 points, because they mean the bench was creating shots for other people.

The Kings were efficient in a way they had not been all season. They shot 52% from the field and 44% from 3-point range.

That efficiency was built on shot quality rather than volume, and it showed up in the second half when Dallas tried to make a run.

Dallas' defense had no answer for Acuff, who scored inside and out and gave Sacramento a second creator next to Monk.

The Mavericks are 4-3 and have now lost a game they would have expected to win at home.

Dallas' problem was on the other end. Rookie Cooper Flagg shot 3-of-19 and finished with 17 points, and the Mavericks could not get him clean looks.

Walter Clayton Jr. gave Dallas 20 points off the bench, which kept the game close into the third quarter.

The Mavericks' half-court offense stalled whenever the Kings switched, and the misses turned into transition chances for Sacramento.

Dallas has now dropped a home game to a team that came in winless.

One win does not fix a 1-6 start, but it changes the conversation around a young team. Sacramento's problem had been late-game execution, and Monday was the first time it held.

The Kings' schedule does not get easier, and the next game will show whether the shooting night was a correction or an outlier.

Acuff's 25 points are the most encouraging number. A rookie scoring that way on the road is the kind of thing a rebuilding team builds around.

The Mavericks leave with a loss and a rookie whose shot is not falling.

The Kings were desperate and played like it. That is not a sustainable strategy, but it is how a winless team gets its first win.

The shooting numbers are the part to watch. If Sacramento can shoot 44% from three and get 24 from its bench, it will win more than it loses.

Dallas' issue is different and more specific: a rookie forward who is being asked to carry a large role is having the kind of night that happens to rookies.

Both teams play again this week, and both will be measured by whether this game repeats.

The Kings' win changes the pressure, not the trajectory. Sacramento is still 1-6, and the next loss will bring the same questions back.

What matters is whether the shooting and the bench production repeat. A one-night outlier would not change the season.

Acuff's development is the longer story. A rookie getting 25 points in a win is the kind of thing that shapes a rebuild.

Dallas' night is a reminder that rookie seasons are uneven, and the Mavericks are asking a lot of theirs.

Both teams are back on the floor this week.

The Kings' next opponent is a better defensive team, which will test the shot quality.

Sacramento's next game is on the road against a team with a top-ten defense.

The Kings' shooting night will be tested there, and the answer will say more than this win did.

Dallas' next game is at home, and the Mavericks will want a cleaner night from their rookie.

Monk's health is the variable to watch for Sacramento.

The Kings' bench has been outscored in five of seven games this season.

Sacramento's next three games are against teams with winning records, which makes this win a small reprieve rather than a turning point.

Acuff also had four assists alongside his 25 points.

The Kings had lost their first six games by an average of 11 points.

Monk's plus-27 was the best mark on either team.

Dallas has now lost two straight at home.

Sacramento's defense was the quieter improvement, holding Dallas under fifty percent shooting.

The Kings' next stretch will decide whether this was a beginning or a blip.

The Kings' offense has now scored more than a hundred in three straight games.

Sacramento's next game is against a team that also struggles to shoot.

The Kings' defense has been the part that traveled.