Preview: Mavs look to continue dominance over Kings to conclude road trip

Earl K. Sneed reports from Sacramento and previews the Dallas Mavericks' Thursday night matchup against the Kings, as the Mavs try to continue their dominance in the series to bring their road trip to a close.

Preview: Mavericks (13-23) at Kings (13-22)
Mavs look to continue dominance over Kings to conclude road trip

SACRAMENTO — There may not be any team in the NBA that the Dallas Mavericks would rather see as they try to bring an end to their recent slump when they invade Sleep Train Arena for a second meeting of the season against the Sacramento Kings.

After falling to their fourth straight defeat and 13th in the last 15 games following a 99-93 loss in Los Angeles against the league-best Clippers, the Mavericks (13-23) now sit 10 games below .500 for the first time since March 30, 2000. But with the Kings (13-22) in the midst of reports of a potential sale and relocation to Seattle, the Mavs will try to finish off their three-game road trip by continuing their dominance over the Sacramento squad after winning 20 of the late 23 meetings in the overall series between the two teams.

The visiting Dallas team will also try to improve upon a 2-7 mark in the second half of back-to-backs. In order to do so, however, the Mavs admit that they must somehow bring an end to their stretch of fourth-quarter collapses that continued Wednesday night after watching a 10-point advantage in the second half and three-point edge entering the final 12 minutes of play end in defeat.

“Frustrating,” 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki said of the tough stretch. “There's no other word. But we don't have any quitters on the team. The coaching staff are not quitters. So we're gonna keep on pushing, we’re going to keep on teaching the little things that really end up losing us the game so far. I think we’re right there with most of the teams — lost to OKC in overtime, lost to Miami in overtime, lost at home to New Orleans in overtime, pushed the best team in the league down to the last minute. So we feel like we’re right there, we just have to step up down the stretch a little bit at both ends of the floor. … That extra little thing is missing, but we’re not too far off. That’s a good thing."

“We’re going to keep digging,” point guard Darren Collison added. “You know, it’s early on in the season. We’re going to keep a positive mindset. And I’ll tell you one thing: once we get this thing rolling and we turn this thing over, I don’t think there’s no looking back for us. All it takes is that one game to turn things around for us and I’m going to be optimistic about the future right now for us.”

Backcourt mate O.J. Mayo, center Chris Kaman and Collison combined to score 52 points on 22-of-31 shooting in a 119-96 home rout over the Kings back on Dec. 10. In all, six Mavericks scored in double figures while outshooting the Kings for four quarters, 55.2 percent to 44 percent, in addition to 32 points off Sacramento’s 20 turnovers.

The Dallas team also overcame a 43-38 rebounding disadvantage with a 25-18 margin in fast-break points and a 44-30 separation in points in the paint. Thursday night, they’ll look for an encore performance, hoping to return to Big D on a high note before the start of a four-game homestand Saturday night against Memphis.

Note: The Mavericks will conclude their road trip on the second night of a back-to-back Thursday in Sacramento in a second meeting against the Kings. The Mavs captured a 119-96 blowout win at home over the Kings back on Dec. 10. The game will air locally at 9 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest.