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Mavs beat Webber-less Kings 122-113
Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and Michael Finley hit two clutch 3-pointers in the closing minutes, helping the Dallas Mavericks turn a late nine-point deficit into a 122-113 victory over the Sacramento Kings Thursday night in a matchup of teams left short-handed following the trade deadline.
Dallas, which played just eight players and lost one to an injury late in the third quarter, trailed 98-89 with 9:02 left before going on a 13-2 run. Nowitzki put them ahead for good on a short jumper with 4:39 to go, then Josh Howard followed with a dunk in transition that turned into a three-point play.
Finley stretched the Mavs' lead to 112-107, then hit another 3 with 1:42 left to make it 117-110. Sacramento never got closer than four again.
Marquis Daniels had season-highs with 29 points and eight assists, plus nine rebounds, and Finley added 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Mike Bibby and Cuttino Mobley each scored 26 for the Kings, who spoke earlier in the day about needing to forge a new identity — whatever that will be — without their best player. Darius Songaila got off to a good start in his increased role by posting a career-high 23 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.
The Kings dressed the league-minimum of eight players because Webber and two reserves were traded to Philadelphia on Wednesday night and their replacements hadn't arrived, plus Peja Stojakovic was out with a strained hamstring. They led nearly all of the third quarter, but fueled their own collapse by going nearly 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal.
Playing at home for the first time in 16 days, the Mavericks maintained the momentum of their 5-0 road trip, a franchise best that included wins in Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento.
Howard had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Devin Harris added 11 points off the bench before leaving with a strained neck late in the third when he ran into a blind pick by Brad Miller. Mavs coach Don Nelson was ejected for heatedly arguing that no foul was called.
Sacramento lost for the third time in four games and seventh in nine. This loss made for a bad start to a six-game, nine-day road trip that continues Saturday against Webber and the 76ers.
The Kings may have tired down the stretch because their reserves played a total of 29 minutes, with none logging more than 10. All three of Dallas' bench players logged at least 21 minutes and the fresh legs certainly paid off in the end as the Mavericks scored a season-high 40 points in the final period.
Dallas trailed 84-78 with 1:27 left in the third when Nelson was ejected. The non-foul on Miller was merely the last straw, as the Mavericks hadn't gone to the foul line since 2:47 of the first quarter — while the Kings had taken 25 free throws in that span — and several close calls had just gone against them. Nelson ran onto the court and had to be pushed away from official Kevin Fehr.
Earlier Thursday, the Mavericks traded big men Alan Henderson and Calvin Booth to Milwaukee for Keith Van Horn, which thinned their depth, especially in the frontcourt. Now, both backup centers are rookies and Nelson wasn't going to use them in a tight game.
Dallas improved to 3-0 against Sacramento this season, giving the Mavs the tiebreaker if they finish with the same record. Dallas has won seven of the last eight regular-season meetings with Sacramento, although the Kings beat them 4-1 in last year's playoffs.
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