Mavericks Extend Streak To 17 Straight Home Wins Against Kings
DALLAS (AP) - Dallas relied on defense to build a massive lead and extend its recent home dominance against Sacramento.
O.J. Mayo scored 19 points and the Mavericks took control with a 31-3 run in the first half to win their 17th straight regular-season home game against Sacramento with a 119-96 victory over the Kings on Monday night.
The Mavericks held the Kings without a field goal during the game-turning run. Sacramento missed 12 straight shots and committed nine turnovers in a span of nearly 11 minutes.
"Some of it was them missing," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "But we were moving our feet. We were in position and we were scrambling. So that made a lot of good things happen for us offensively."
Dallas (11-10) picked up its third win a row to go over .500 for the first time since Nov. 21.
After tight wins over Phoenix and Houston, the Mavericks built a 28-point lead in the second quarter and led by double digits the entire second half.
"We're playing good basketball right now," Mayo said. "But now we've got to take it on the road with us and continue playing hard. We need to continue playing with effort and energy."
Francisco Garcia, who was 7 of 12 from 3-point range, and DeMarcus Cousins scored 25 points apiece for the Kings, who haven't won in Dallas during the regular season since Feb. 27, 2003. Jason Thompson added 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Kings had their three-game winning streak snapped and allowed a season high in points.
"There was just nothing that we could establish," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "They kind of took us out of what we can do."
Dallas starting forward Shawn Marion missed his second straight game with a strained right groin.
Chris Kaman, playing 21 minutes on a sprained left ankle which Carlisle described as "a glowing purple" before the game, scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half and reserve Darren Collison added 15 points for the Mavericks.
"Kaman has been great," Dallas forward Elton Brand said. "We need him to continue playing like that for us to continue to win."
Mayo hit a jumper late in the first quarter to kick off the game-turning run for the Mavs, who were up 65-43 at halftime.
Sacramento, which picked up its first road win of the season Saturday at Portland, opened the game by hitting 5 of 6 from 3-point range. The Kings took a 28-27 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter on Thompson's tip-in basket.
But the Kings didn't score from the floor again until Thompson's basket broke the drought with 3:34 left in the first half. Sacramento went 10:52 without a field goal.
Mayo started the run with a 20-footer and Vince Carter closed the opening quarter with a steal and dunk that gave the Mavericks a 36-29 lead. Brandan Wright capped the big spurt with a dunk, putting the Mavericks up 58-31.
The Kings hit 9 of 13 shots to open the second half and went on a 23-12 run, cutting the deficit to 77-66 on Garcia's 3-pointer. Garcia started in place of an injured Tyreke Evans, who missed his third straight with a sore left knee.
The Mavericks closed the third with an 11-4 spurt and Mayo's 3-pointer with 26.7 seconds left made it 88-70.
Dallas stretched its advantage to as much as 26 in the fourth, and Sacramento got no closer than 17 in the final 12 minutes.
