What a difference a couple of months make. It was back on January 14 when the keepers of the castle were in Dallas and getting blown off the court. They only scored 23 points in the first half, 60 in the game and shot twenty-six percent in possibily the most disappointing performance of the season. Fast forward to the present. Coach Smart has had more quality time to spend with the team, thus the cohesion and his style of play are finally taking shape. On Friday night at Power Balance Pavilion, the Kings put on display the collective knowledge that Smart has infused into the team as they put a whooping on the visiting Dallas Mavericks 110-97 in front of a nearly-packed house. For the

The Sacramento Kings hosted the streaking Dallas Mavericks, who were riding a 10-game winning streak going into Wednesday night's game. The Kings fought valiantly to erase an 11-point deficit, but Jason Terry and José Barea helped spark the Mavs to an 11th straight victory, beating the Kings 102-100. Terry stepped up off the bench in the wake of Dirk Nowitzki’s poor shooting night by scoring a game-high 20 points. Barea, who averages nine points per game from the bench, scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help hold off the Kings. “He’s one of the quickest players in the league,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said of Barea. “He can shoot. They set a lot of screens for him. He

Mama said there’d be days like this. During the long NBA season, there are games where a team will come up short but still feel they’ve played a good game. Saturday’s Kings game against the Mavericks was one of those games. Close — oh so close — but no cigar. In a game where the Sacramento Kings led most of the way until the final moments, the home team couldn’t get off the game-tying shot in time as they let a nine-point lead with 5:24 left in the game slowly disappear, and the Dallas Mavericks pulled out the win 105-103 at Arco Arena. Tyreke Evans (25 points, five boards and eight assists) played possibly his best overall game of the young season by hitting open shots, including three

The Dallas Mavericks began Saturday night's game with the ultimate mismatch in high-scoring 7-foot forward Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki scored what looked like an easy 39 points to befuddle the Kings during a 126-108 victory before a crowd of 15,247 at Arco Arena. The Kings rarely showed an ability to slow the Mavericks (53-27) offensively. Dallas' offense was orchestrated magnificently by maestro Jason Kidd, who earned his 105th career triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. Dallas jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter to seize control of the game. Only briefly during the second quarter did the Kings show any sign of being able to compete. Sacramento (25-55)