In July, the Mavericks acquired Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade. He was supposed to be a complementary piece alongside Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. General manager Nico Harrison said Dallas was merely a “Klay Thompson away” from a championship.

But in February, the situation changed drastically, when Harrison traded Dončić. In March, things changed some more, when Irving suffered a season-ending left knee injury.

Thompson suddenly was without the two lead guards who were supposed to be feeding him open looks.

Thompson kept playing through all of that, and on Wednesday, he caught fire in the Mavericks’ win over the Kings. Thompson scored 16 of his 23 points in the second quarter. The Mavericks outscored the Kings 44-19 in the second quarter and led by as many as 26 points in an impressive road performance.

Mavericks guard Brandon Williams contributed 17 points and five assists. Williams, who started the season on a two-way contract and was listed as questionable coming into the game, provided an unlikely spark off the bench.

To reach the playoffs, all the Mavericks need to do now is beat the Grizzlies.

Since the current Play-In format started, no 10-seed has ever advanced to the playoffs. Dallas and Miami can both do that with wins Friday.