Sacramento Kings 102 at Dallas Mavericks 104
The Dallas Mavericks haven't used their health situation as an excuse all season.
With Erick Dampier (illness), Josh Howard (surgically-repaired left ankle) and Shawn Marion (left ankle) all out for the team's matchup with the Sacramento Kings, the excuses didn't start on Friday night as the Mavericks hit the court looking for their fifth straight win. Behind gritty play and a 52-14 bench scoring edge, the Mavs squeaked out a 104-102 win on the home floor at the American Airlines Center.
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
"We're going to have to get help from a lot of different guys," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the win. "To win games with some of your key guys out you've got to be a true team, so that's what we're attempting to do as best we can."
Though the win certainly couldn't be described as being pretty, it was another notch in the win column as Dallas moves to 10-3 on the young season.
"In this league, in doesn't really matter if you win ugly or pretty," Dirk Nowitzki said after the win. "Out of 13 games we've won 10 and that's pretty good, but we know we have work to do. We have a lot of ugly wins, so we know we have to get better from game to game, from month to month."
Starting a lineup of Jason Kidd, rookie Rodrigue Beaubois, Quinton Ross, Nowitzki and Drew Gooden, the Mavs looked to get off to a quick start against a .500 Kings squad. Dallas did just that, scoring the first seven points of the night. But with an opportunity to blow the game open early in the first quarter, the Mavs allowed Sacramento to stay close with countless missed layups despite getting to the rim at will. Influenced most by the blown "bunnies" at the rim was Gooden, who grabbed nine rebounds (five offensive) in the first quarter but shot just 1-of-8 in the period.
"Tonight he (Gooden) had a rough night with luck around the basket and getting the ball to go in," Carlisle said. "He had some good looks and the key is for him to just to keep doing what he's doing because he's making a great effort and bringing great energy to us."
As Dallas struggled to convert on easy scores, Sacramento surged ahead 24-22 at the end of one. The Mavs shot just 9-of-28 (32 percent) in the period, while the Kings hit on just under 55 percent of their shots.
Sacramento didn't let up to start the second quarter, as rookie standout Tyreke Evans and forward Andres Nocioni opened up a five-point (33-28) Kings' lead. Behind Nowitzki, Kidd, sixth man Jason Terry and reserve forward Kris Humphries, Dallas rallied to outscore Sacramento 25-18 in the quarter to take a 47-42 advantage into the half.
Humphries led all Mavericks in scoring at the half with 10 points, as Jason Thompson matched that output for the Kings. Dallas made up for a 40 percent shooting half by forcing 12 turnovers on the defensive end, keeping the Kings from capitalizing off of their 49 percent shooting.
Gooden had enough of the missed layups, so the big man decided to emphatically throw down a two-handed dunk, plus the foul, to open up the scoring at the start of the second half. It was the start of a seven-point third quarter for Gooden, as he rebounded from his ugly beginning to the night.
"I didn't care about going 1-for-10 (in the first half)," Gooden said. "I just stayed with it and was active trying to keep the ball alive. I had one of those nights where I was going to fight and do whatever it took to get to that ball."
Behind trapping defense on Evans and a scoring Kidd, who is normally reluctant to look for his own offense, the Mavs took a 68-65 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Mavs' advantage quickly ballooned to ten at the start of the fourth, as Humphries, Tim Thomas and J.J. Barea gave a big boost to the Dallas second unit.
"I think that's (the bench) an important part to this team," Humphries said. "When the bench is coming in strong, it helps the overall flow of what we're doing and kind of picks us up."
Sacramento then came back to within three, as Evans looked more like a veteran and less likely a first-year pro as he single-handily kept the Kings close in the last five minutes. Dallas countered with a heavy dose of Terry, as the reigning Sixth Man of the Year scored 10 of the Mavs' final 19 points over the final 4:15 of game time.
"I wanted to be aggressive," Terry said. "I was due. I wasn't going to stop shooting. Coach did a great job of calling my number, we got some stops and we just kept them at bay."
But Dallas' inability to protect the lead, coupled with Evans' determination to never quit, brought the Kings to within three, 102-99, on a 3-pointer from the Kings' rookie with 2.8 seconds left in the game. The two teams then played the free throw game and Terry calmly made the Kings pay at the charity stripe. Out of the woods and up by five, Omri Casspi's three at the buzzer was merely a minuet point, as Dallas wrapped up a hard fought two-point win. The Mavs hung on to win despite being outscored 37-36 in the fourth.
"We were doing okay until we gave up 37 in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter and the way it ended, it's going to leave a bad taste for everybody. Some disappointment, but getting the win is important so we'll be glad for that and we'll work to get better," Carlisle said.
"We've got to do better than we did in the last minute. You give up three 3-pointers in 24 seconds, that's not acceptable. We need to get better -- we will do better."
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Nowitzki and Terry led the Mavs with team-high honors in scoring, as both stars posted 20 points. Kidd added a double-double with 15 points, on 5-of-9 from 3-point range, to go along with his 11 assists. Meanwhile, Gooden finished just one point shy of his fourth straight double-double with nine points and a season-high 16 rebounds. Off the bench, Humphries (15) and Thomas (11) saw season-high scoring nights.
"With what Humphries and Thomas did inside, they were a force. We're going to need those guys to continue to be consistent and continue to give us something," Terry said.
Evans finished with a game-high 29 points for the Kings.
The Kings out-shot the Mavericks 53 percent to 45 percent, but Dallas' defense caused 21 turnovers and forced 10 steals.
Now the Mavs will take three days away from game action before playing four games in five nights, starting with host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest. 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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