Mavericks use 15-4 spurt to end contest, extending win streak to nine games. Jason Terry (31) scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and had a game-sealing steal in the final seconds to propel Dallas to victory. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)In an unexpected turn of events, the lowly Sacramento Kings (4-15) played some of their best basketball of the season Saturday night, providing the Dallas Mavericks (16-4) with arguably their stiffest test in the last nine games.
Tyreke Evans scored 25 points for the Kings, but a late rally by Jason Terry and the Mavericks proved to be to much for the young squad to handle.
"I remember it was 99-90 (Kings) and we were able to lock them down from that point on," Mavs' center Tyson Chandler said. "We were able to close it out. This was huge one for us coming off a big win (Friday night) against Utah. Everyone was a little tired, but we withstood their runs."
Sacramento jumped out to a 37-25 lead late in the first quarter behind 35 combined points from Evans (14 points), Demarcus Cousins (11) and Donte Green (10).
The Kings trio kept Dallas on it's heels for the rest of the first half and into the fourth quarter as the Mavericks were able to tie the game a few times, but couldn't find a way to get over the hump and take the lead.
Sacramento went up 99-90, their largest lead of the second half, with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter after Kings' point guard Beno Udrih hit a wild runner in the lane. Dallas responded, closing out the game on a 15-4 run behind six points from Terry and four from Dirk Nowitzki.
The duo also combined to force a steal on the Kings last possession to ice the game down the stretch; something this new defense-first team come accustomed to over the last few weeks.
"Dirk got his hand on the pass, I rotated and was in the right spot at the right time," Terry said. ..."That's our identity now, we hang our hat on it (defense)," Terry said. "That started two years ago and we bought into it. That's the biggest thing we have going for us now."
Nowitzki finished tied for the game-high in scoring with Evans (25 points) and shot an efficient 11 of 14 from the floor, while Terry chipped in 23 points. Cousins had 17 for the Kings and Green had 19, but Green failed to score in the second half.
"I thought that the group that started played fantastically well," Kings' coach Paul Westphal said. "We were moving the ball, we were hitting shots. we went toe to toe and got the better of a great team for most of the game."
The Mavericks' winning streak is now at nine and perhaps the most impressive aspect of the streak is that Dallas has won five of them on the road, including six games on back-to-back nights. Dallas is 8-1 on the road this season, tied for the best record in the NBA away from home along with the San Antonio Spurs.
What's Next:
Dallas gets a couple of much-needed days of rest before hitting the floor Tuesday night in Big D to take on the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are 8-11 this season (3-7 on the road) and are led by Monte Ellis and his 24.9 points per game - tied with Dirk for fifth best in the NBA.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. central time.
News and Notes:
- Not only is Nowitzki fifth in the NBA in points per game, the big German is also 10th in the NBA is field goal percentage at 55.3 percent after going 11 of 14 from the floor against Sacramento.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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