Mavericks at Kings
The Dallas Mavericks are locked in a battle for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference but are not exactly sprinting to the finish. The Mavericks will try to avoid a three-game slide when they continue a four-game road trip by visiting the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Dallas is 2-9 in its last 11 games – stretch that began with a 104-101 home loss to the Kings – but is still in a four-way race for the final three spots in the West thanks to the relative struggles of the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz as well. The Mavericks did not help themselves by falling at Portland to begin the road trip and could not get the stops they needed in a 128-120 loss at Golden State on Friday. “I think that we took a step in the right direction, as far as getting better,” Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews told the team’s website. “Guys needed to step up, and guys did step up. But obviously, we can’t give up 120-something points. We’ve got to continue that fight and that push to make sure we salvage this trip with two games left on it.” Sacramento returned home from a four-game trip on Friday and raced past the Phoenix Suns 116-94 with DeMarcus Cousins (knee) back from a one-game absence.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (35-37): Dallas gave forward Dirk Nowitzki the night off Friday to rest up for the back-to-back at Sacramento and Denver closing the road trip and was also without Deron Williams (abdominal) and Chandler Parsons (knee) in Friday’s loss. “I thought, especially with us being shorthanded tonight, we really fought,” Mavericks forward David Lee, who stepped in for Nowitzki and delivered 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists, told reporters. “And I was proud of our guys for going out there and really fighting. We’ve just got to be a little better.” Parsons will miss the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on the knee but Williams should be back on Sunday.
ABOUT THE KINGS (28-44): Sacramento has not beaten a team currently owning a winning record since a 108-97 triumph over Indiana capped a five-game winning streak on Jan. 23. The Kings showed off the type of team they can be when everything works on Friday, holding the Suns to 37.2 percent shooting and committing only 12 turnovers in the rout. Sacramento is allowing opponents to shoot 46.2 percent from the floor on the season and sits last in the NBA in scoring defense (109 points).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Matthews is 17-of-28 from 3-point range in the last three games.
2. Kings rookie C Willie Cauley-Stein scored a season-high 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting Friday.
3. Sacramento has taken two of the previous three meetings this season, with the lone loss coming in overtime in Dallas on Jan. 5.