Road Reaction: Dallas Mavericks 119, Sacramento Kings 96

The Sacramento Kings’ nice little three-game win streak came to a screeching halt tonight in Dallas.  The Mavericks showed no mercy as they drubbed the visiting Kings by a final score of 119-96.

Notes and Analysis

• The Kings defense was atrocious tonight which was okay while the starters were in the game keeping pace.  When Smart went to the bench, this game completely fell apart.  The Mavs outscored the Kings 29-14 in the second period and much of that was the fault of the bench.

• In lieu of Tyreke Evans missing yet another game with a sore knee, Francisco Garcia started his third-straight game and was incredible.  The seldom-used veteran tied DeMarcus Cousins for the game-high in points with 25.  He also set a career-high with seven made 3-pointers and added three blocked shots in the loss.

• Cousins was good and even great at certain moments of this game, but it wasn’t even close to enough.  Cousins finished with 25 points and six rebounds, but he turned the ball over four times.

• John Salmons did a nice job of creating shots for others as the starting small forward, but Keith Smart got nothing from James Johnson or Travis Outlaw.  Johnson continues to struggle with his shot, finishing with 2 points on 1-for-5 shooting in 12 minutes of action, while Outlaw attempted just one shot in six minutes.  Overall, the group finished with seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists on the night.

• Jason Thompson continued his consistent play, notching another double-double in 30 minutes of action.  JT finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, but picked up another technical foul for bouncing a ball into the stands in frustration.

• The combination of Jimmer Fredette and Isaiah Thomas struggled tonight.  The duo finished with seven points on 3-for-12 shooting and neither one could slow any of the Mavs’ guards.

• Stat of the Night: The Mavs’ bench outscored the Kings bench 52-21 and it felt worse than that.  Marcus Thornton was the only second unit scorer to get into double figures.  In contrast, the Mavs got double-digit games from two bench players.  Darren Collison and Jae Crowder combined to score 26 of the Dallas reserves’ 50-plus points.

Three answers to three questions pondered

1. Will we see a return to form for Marcus Thornton?

There were signs that he was waking from his basketball coma, but it was Thornton and his second unit teammates that let this game get completely out of control in the second period.  He finished with 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting, but that’s not enough in a 25-point blow out.

2. Can the Kings contain the Mavericks on the break?

The Kings couldn’t contain the Mavs on the break or in the half court or anywhere else tonight.  The Mavs outscored the Kings on in transition 25 to 18.  The home team also shot a whopping 55.3 percent from the field.

3. What will the Kings do defensively to slow down O.J. Mayo?

The Kings did very little to slow down the former USC Trojan.  Mayo scored a team-high 19 points on 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 behind the arc in just 26 minutes. The 25-year-old guard scored 12 of his 19 points in the first period.