Being down the Sixth Man of the Year, two centers, and a head coach wasn't even enough to stop the Dallas Mavericks' last night as they held on to beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-100, at American Airlines Center. Coach Carlisle got disgusted with the seemingly one-sided officiating (Dallas hadn't been to the free throw line one time at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter) and quickly picked up two technical fouls -- and a ticket to the locker room -- protesting yet another non-call on Nowitzki under the basket. Dwayne Casey took over coaching duties, and the Mavs seemed to find a little life on the heels of Carlisle's ejection. Dallas went on a 15-5 run which culminated with 1:59 remaining before the half, when rookie Roddy Beaubois sliced through the lane for an easy layup and drew the foul, sending him to the line for the Mavs' first free throw of the night. Beaubois nailed the free throw, which tied the game at 48. On the Kings' next possession, Eduardo Najera blocked a shot from behind and Beaubois race down the floor to make a basket, giving the Mavs their first lead of the game, 50-48, with 1:35 left in the half.
Although the Kings would take a 53-52 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Mavs lead the league in comeback wins this season and were never worried. The opening play of the second half featured Jason Kidd throwing an awesome alley-oop pass to an airborne Beaubois for an easy bucket to put the Mavs back in front. Due to muscle tightness in his lower back, Brendan Haywood didn't return after the first quarter, which left Dirk playing center. The Mavs had a huge third quarter and improved on their defense to take an 85-72 lead going into the fourth quarter. Around the nine minute mark, Beaubois fell over backwards, basically somersaulting onto his neck in an effort to obtain a loose ball, which resulted in a wide open shot for Dirk. Roddy then limped to the bench at the next timeout, but he was able to walk it off and return to the game.
Dirk hit back to back shots to put the Mavs up 100-91 before Sacramento went on a 9-2 run to make it a one possession game at 102-100. Caron Butler stole the ball as rookie Tyreke Evans drove the lane. Dirk was fouled and hit two free throws to stretch the Mavs' lead to 104-100, then Butler stole the ball a second time and Nocioni fouled Dirk, resulting in two more made free throws, as well as Nocioni's ejection. On the next trip down for the Kings, they missed their initial shot, as well as two putback attempts, before Jason Kidd snagged the rebound and was fouled with 5.7 second left. Kidd iced both free throws and the Mavs went on to claim their 10th straight victory, 108-100.
Beaubois finished the night with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting (3-of -6 from behind the arc) and Barea had eight points, two boards, and seven assists. Dirk led the team in both scoring and rebounds, with 31 and 12, respectively, to go along with his three assists. Immediately following the game, the Mavs had to board the team plane to Chicago, where they will play the Bulls tomorrow night, their second of three games in four days.
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