The Sacramento Kings gave a valiant effort tonight in Dallas, but a series of mistakes late cost them big time, allowing the Mavs to come away with the 110-100 win.
Roddy Beaubois and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 15 to lead the way for Dallas. Also, Shawn Marion scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds for Dallas. The Mavs hit 50 percent (7-for-14) of their 3-point attempts and out-rebounded the Kings 56-40 on the night. Six Mavs players finished with double-digit scoring figures in a well-balanced Dallas attack.
DeMarcus Cousinspicked up his 34th double-double, finishing with 25 points, 18 rebounds and a career-high six steals. Marcus Thornton returned for the Kings after missing five straight games with a bruised left calf. He looked solid in his return, scoring 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting. Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas chipped in 16 a piece and Jimmer Fredette scored 13 off the bench for the Kings, who fell to 19-39 on the season.
Notes and Analysis
- Cousins was the best player on the floor for most of the game. The second-year center led all players in points, rebounds and steals in 38 minutes of action.
- Coach Smart started Donté Greene in place of starter Jason Thompson to match up against Nowitzki. At first glance, it appeared to work – Dirk scored 15 points on just 4-for-14 shooting, but that is just part of the story. Greene grabbed just one rebound in 23 minutes. Thompson chipped in five off the bench. This game was lost tonight because of poor rebounding. While it wasn’t all Greene’s fault, he has to do a better job on the glass if he wants to earn minutes in the NBA as a stretch four.
- Marcus Thornton returned to action after missing time with a calf injury. The third-year guard scored 16 points in 38 minutes. The Kings are 1-9 on the season when playing without their leading scorer.
- Jimmer Fredette scored 13 off the bench. The rookie hit 3-for-7 from long distance and dished out four assists in 21 minutes. Jimmer continued his strong on-court chemistry with Terrence Williams and the duo’s penchant for passing seemed contagious.
- The Kings other rookie point guard, Isaiah Thomas, scored 16 points and handed out five assists. Thomas is building a reputation as a hard nose defender who goes hard at every opposing point guard night-in and night-out.
- With Thornton back in the fold, the floor opened up a bit for the struggling Tyreke Evans. While Evans is still figuring out how to guard small forwards at the NBA level, he took and hit a handful of good looking jumpers on his way to 16 points. For the first time in 14 games, Evans hit a 3-pointer tonight. That is crazy. Evans hadn’t even attempted a long ball in four games before tonight.
- Shawn Marion grabbed 14 rebounds in just 22 minutes tonight. The veteran wing gave the Kings fits on the glass, highlighting another deficiency in Evans game.
- Yi Jianlian scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in just nine minutes. The former lottery pick really hurt the Kings with a series of mid-range jumpers in the second quarter that helped the Mavs get out to a 57-50 halftime lead.
- Stat of the Night: The Mavs came into this game ranked 28th in the league in offensive rebounding. Tonight, they dominated the Kings on the glass to the tune of 56-40, including 17 offensive rebounds. The Mavs used that rebounding advantage to outscore the Kings 20-10 in second chance points.
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