Kings beat Mavericks from 3-point arc
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ben McLemore scored 22 points and Buddy Hield added 16 as the Sacramento Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks 98-87 on Tuesday at Golden 1 Center.
Langston Galloway scored 15 points, and Willie Cauley-Stein contributed 12 points and 16 rebounds as the short-handed Kings (31-47) won for the fourth time in six games.
Sacramento, like Dallas already eliminated from playoff contention, rested guards Darren Collison and Ty Lawson and played with only eight men. Two rookies started in coach Dave Joerger's 28th starting lineup of the season. Eighth-year veteran guard Tyreke Evans and third-year veteran Galloway, in his first Kings start, joined second-year center Cauley-Stein and rookies Hield and Skal Labissiere (11 points) in the starting five.
Nicolas Brussino scored 13 points to pace Dallas (32-45), while Dwight Powell and Harrison Barnes each added 11.
The Mavericks played without forward Dirk Nowitzki and guards Seth Curry and Wesley Matthews. Nowitzki, the 19-year veteran and team's second-leading scorer (14.4 points per game), sat out for the first time since late January with a sore right Achilles tendon.
Curry, tied with Matthews for the team lead with 70 games played, missed the game with a left shoulder injury. Matthews received a planned rest.
Without the missing players, the teams struggled through a poor-shooting, occasionally sloppy affair. The Kings won despite shooting only 45 percent, a figure they overcame by making 12 of 22 shots from 3-point range.
The Mavericks made just 31 field goals and shot 40 percent, including just 27.9 percent (12-for-43) from beyond the arc.
NOTES: In addition to playing without its top two guards, Sacramento also took the floor without C Kosta Koufos (rest) G/F Arron Afflalo (strained lower back) and F Anthony Tolliver (right hip strain). ... F Dirk Nowitzki, who played in Dallas' previous 30 games and has logged 1,390 overall, remained one contest shy of tying Jason Kidd for eighth on the NBA's all-time list for games played. Nowitzki is two games shy of tying Tim Duncan for seventh. ... G Tyreke Evans entered as the leader in minutes among the eight available Kings. He played 28 minutes against Dallas and is averaging 22 minutes in 13 games with Sacramento. .... The Mavericks fell to 7-7 in the first half of back-to-back contests. Dallas, which is at the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, is just 2-11 in the second game.