The Dallas Mavericks seem to be righting the ship after some early season struggles defeating the Sacramento Kings 99-60 Saturday night. The win was the Mavericks' fifth straight and improves their overall record to 8-5 on the season.
The 60 points allowed set a franchise mark for Dallas as they held Sacramento to just 25.6 percent shooting for the game. Rick Carlisle said after the game that the team had placed extra emphasis on defense after its early season struggles.
"(The Kings) had some struggles. Their shot-making wasn't great, but I thought we had something to do with that," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We're placing emphasis on energy, defense and rebounding. The guys are responding."
Jason Terry led the Mavericks with 21 points off the bench for the Mavericks. Vince Carter also chipped in 16 points off the bench. Dirk Nowitzki led all starters with 14 points and Shawn Marion added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Marcus Thornton led the Kings with 14 points while DeMarcus Cousins had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Evans struggled scoring three points on 1-8 shooting in just over 31 minutes of action.
For more on this game Dallas fans should head over to Mavs Moneyball and Sacramento fans should stop by Sactown Royalty. For more NBA news and analysis be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA Hub.