Game Preview: Mavericks At Kings
By JORDAN GARRETSON
STATS Writer
(AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks were torched by an explosive shooting performance after initially appearing on their way to a marquee victory.
They should be able to avoid a similar fate Thursday night when they visit the struggling Sacramento Kings, whom they've dominated in recent years.
The Mavericks (33-18) lost 128-114 Wednesday at Golden State as the Warriors, led by Stephen Curry's 51 points on 10-of-16 3-point shooting, tied an NBA season high with 19 3-pointers on 38 attempts. Dallas, which led 40-18 with less than two minutes left in the first quarter, had held its previous 12 opponents to 31.5 percent 3-point shooting.
"It's disappointing to get off to the start that we had," Tyson Chandler told the team's official website after totaling 21 points and 17 rebounds. "In their building, you can't ask for a better start. We've just got to capitalize on it. And the start really doesn't matter if you lose the game, so we've got to maintain that for 48 minutes."
Sacramento isn't nearly as threatening from the perimeter, shooting 29.1 percent from deep over its last 10 games and ranks 29th in the NBA with 5.2 3-pointers per game.
While Wednesday's defeat may have been the Mavericks simply being on the wrong side of a hot shooting night, point guard play was problematic in their second game without Rajon Rondo (fractured orbital bone). J.J. Barea, Devin Harris and Raymond Felton combined to shoot 5 of 18 and were liable defensively for Curry's performance.
Dallas doesn't expect to have Rondo back before the All-Star break.
Chandler Parsons had 24 points and is averaging 20.5 on 59.3 percent shooting over his last four games, though he's shot 37.2 percent in his last three versus Sacramento.
The Mavericks have won 20 of the last 22 meetings, including 106-98 at home Nov. 11, and 108-104 on the road Jan. 13.
The Kings (17-30) have struggled defensively during a 1-9 stretch, surrendering 109.8 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting in the losses. They let Golden State shoot 50.5 percent in Tuesday's 121-96 home loss and gave up 30 fast-break points while being outscored in the paint for the seventh time in eight games.
Sacramento's reserves were outscored 61-12. The Kings, who won 99-94 at Indiana on Saturday despite having their bench outscored 56-11, rank 24th with 28.5 bench points per game.
Their reserves are averaging a minus-21.7 scoring margin over the last seven.
"The bench just has to continue to stay positive, stay with it. ... Maybe they're not prepared mentally to go in," said Darren Collison, who averaged 12.0 points for Dallas in 2012-13. "I think the bench just has to focus on playing defense. I think the bench has a tendency to worry about the offensive end ... we've got a good bench. I think they'll be fine."
The Mavericks rank 13th averaging 34.2 bench points.
DeMarcus Cousins, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's loss, is averaging 25.0 points while shooting 53.9 percent in his last five meetings with Dallas.
Chandler, 24 of 30 (80.0 percent) over his last four games, is averaging 14.8 points and 14.2 rebounds in his last six against the Kings.
Sacramento is in danger of losing six straight at home for the first time since an eight-game skid from Nov. 11-Dec. 6, 2008, while the Mavericks have a league-high 18 road wins.
