Dallas Mavericks lost to the Sacramento Kings without Josh Howard

I scored a pair of tickets to the Mavericks game against the Kings at the Arco Arena on Sunday night for less than half price through Craig's List. Yes, the Kings are so bad that season ticket holders are selling their tickets for less than what they paid for, even for a weekend game to see Dirk and Jason Kidd. The Kings came to the game with a 5 game losing streak with their last win against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavs were expected to walk all over the Kings.

I arrived at Arco Arena 15 minutes before the game. There was no traffic, no line at the parking plaza, no problem getting a good parking spot, and just a short line entering the arena for the metal detectors and bag checks. We got to our seats and less than half of the seats were filled in the arena. When the Mavs starters were introduced, there were a good number of cheers for Jason Kidd, Dirk, and Jason Terry.

The Mavs led by 6 after the first half and appeared to be on their way to a win. But the Kings closed in on the lead and only trailed by 1 to start the 4th quarter. With a 17-4 run to open the final quarter, the King took the lead and never looked back. The Mavs could not manage their trend of come-from-behind wins this night. Dirk was out of sync and Jason Kidd just couldn't buy a basket. The only player making any shots in this game was Jason Terry. But, he couldn't hit the 3s in the 4th period to help the Mavs. I was hoping for the three guard lineup with Kidd, Jose Barea, and Terry playing together to keep up with the young Kings and finish the game. But, the Mavs only had this lineup for a minute in the 4th quarter and couldn't inject any energy into their play. The Mavs finished the game with 3-20 for 3s. Dirk only had 15 points. And Jason Kidd was 1 for 9 FG and 0 for 5 from the 3.

We turned on the Kings radio station driving away from the arena and all they talked about was to savor and cherish this win because you never know when the next one will be. And how not to get too excited or to start thinking the Kings are turning around because Dallas played without one of their better players in Josh Howard. That is the sad state of the Sacramento Kings. But, they still shut down Dirk and Jason Kidd and beat the Mavs. This is the sad state of the Dallas Mavericks.