Sacramento Kings (5-5) at Dallas Mavericks (9-3)
If the Dallas Mavericks are going to be a championship contender, they have to win games like the one they will find themselves in on Friday night.
Without 60 percent of their conventional starting lineup (with Erick Dampier, Josh Howard and Shawn Marion out), the Mavericks face a formidable foe in the Sacramento Kings led by rookie Tyreke Evans. Despite losing the league's leading scorer, Kevin Martin, the Kings have continued to play .500 basketball. But if an NBA title is in Dallas' future, they can't lose games to marginal opponents, even without some of their stars.
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
"We're a confident bunch right now," Mavs sixth man Jason Terry said. "We still have a lot of guys injured or they have certain ailments right now, so we're just kind of trying to weather the storm, tough it out and win as many games as we can. That's all you can really do right now, and hope no one else goes down. Knock on wood for that."
In spite of their health situation, the Mavs come in Friday night riding a four-game winning wave. The Mavs hope they don't suffer a wipe-out against Sacramento.
Knowing the Kings are a quality ball club, Dallas will look to jump out early offensively on their home floor while trying to stifle the Kings' rookie sensation at the defensive end.
"Dangerous team. I think when Kevin Martin went out they ran off two or three straight games. They have a great rookie point guard. They're scrappy. They're a scrappy bunch, and if you don't come out ready to play, it's going to be a 'grind-it-out' game," Terry said.
"We're at home. We have to take advantage of being at home right now, even though we have guys out, and come out of here with another victory. This ain't a team you can overlook. You have to come out ready to play and don't let them get any confidence early."
The Mavs come in 4-1 at home, with the one loss coming in the season opener to the Washington Wizards. Visa versa, the Kings are only 1-3 on the road but they do hold a winning record against fellow Western Conference teams, sitting at 5-3 against the West. Still, Dallas expects for their winning streak to run to five, after showing an ability to win close games by notching back-to-back overtime wins.
"I like the momentum of winning games, but we don't want to lose any momentum," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "We just have to keep going here."
"We have a long ways to go to get where we really want to be."
The Mavs host the Kings on Friday night, with the game airing locally on FSN Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.
Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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