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Mavericks AM News: Winning Streak Snapped

By Christian Blood

Mar 3, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo (9) reacts as fans mock him during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo (9) reacts as fans mock him during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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101. 79. Final. 104. 84

The Dallas Mavericks had won 22-consecutive home games against the Sacramento Kings, but one of the NBA’s top streaks came to an end at American Airlines Center.

Prior to Thursday night, you had to go all the way back to February 27th, 2003 to find the last time the Sacramento Kings defeated the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. A 104-101 for ‘that other team’ from California ended an incredible string of poor play and bad luck for the purple and black in Big D.

You realize that Don Nelson was still Mavs head coach back then? Steve Nash and Michael Finley – and Nick Van Exel were on the team that season. Former head coach Avery Johnson was actually a player with the Mavericks and current head coach Rick Carlisle was in his final year coaching the Detroit Pistons. Michael Jordan was still playing with the Washington Wizards and LeBron James had yet to be drafted.

Now, the Kings almost ended this incredible streak of North Texas futility just two months ago before a Deron Williams three-point strike from the corner at the buzzer won a game for the Mavericks that had already gone into double overtime. Had Williams missed, the streak would have ended at just 21-straight defeats at AAC.

Oh well, all good things must come to end I guess.

Having said that, it was really poor timing for the Mavericks.

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Dallas was rested for this game while the Kings came in on the second night of a back-to-back. Sacramento had just lost four-straight games against, in order, the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies. That’s the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th seeds in the Western Conference.

But the Kings were able to beat the 6th seeded Mavericks on the road.

Chandler Parsons was the only guy who had anything going for the Mavericks, although his 29 points in the game are just a footnote at this point. Hats off to Parsons for the incredible effort he’s put forth in fully recovering from last year’s knee injury suffered just before the postseason began.

Speaking of postseason, remember that former Mavericks point guard acquired a little over a year ago that literally quit on the team as it was trying to make it passed the Houston Rockets in the first-round?

Well, that guy had 18 points and 12 assists for Sacramento as the Kings managed to up their record to 25-35.

The Mavs end up with a record of 4-2 over the course of their season-long six-game home stand that just ended.

The standings don’t change much as a result of this poor performance, although the Portland Trail Blazers have drawn even with Dallas at 33-29. A playoff berth far from clinched, the Mavericks have little room for error, and the coming schedule gets pretty nasty, pretty quick.

Next: Cowboys: Is Mario Williams Worth The Investment

The Mavs get a couple of days off before heading to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Sunday. That begins a back-to-back which concludes against the Clippers on Monday at AAC. From there, five of Dallas’ next eight games come against top-seeded opponents and the Trail Blazers (twice), a team that the Mavericks can’t afford to lose to.

  • Published on 03/04/2016 at 13:05 PM
  • Last updated at 03/04/2016 at 13:05 PM
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