Tuesday night was the last thing standing between the Mavs and ten days without a game.  Despite a close 114-109 score, the Sacramento Kings came into town and took it to a Mavericks squad seemingly eager to begin their All Star break.

Sacramento outscored Dallas 65-44 in the first half before eventually leading by as many as 26 points in the 4th quarter. 

The Mavs staged a valiant comeback to cut the lead from 26 to five over the game’s final ten minutes.  Dirk Nowitzki scored ten of his 12 points for the game during the Mavericks comeback effort.

36-year-old Zach Randolph led the Kings with 22 points while taking it to Dirk Nowitzki and the other Dallas frontcourt defenders.  

After having Sunday night’s loss to the Rockets off, J.J. Barea was back in the lineup for the Mavs and led them in scoring with 19 points.  Rookie Dennis Smith, Jr. had a solid 17 point effort in 30 minutes, but his plus/minus score of -13 might have contributed to him not playing at all in the fourth quarter.

The rookie point guard is the only Maverick who will be heading to Los Angeles to participate in All Star Weekend.  Smith will be on Team U.S.A. for the Rising Stars Competition on Friday night and then will take on Larry Nance Jr., Victor Oladipo and fellow rookie Donovan Mitchell in the Slam Dunk Competition on Saturday night.

Tuesday night’s loss dropped Dallas to 18-40 and put them into a three-way tie for the worst record in the league with the Atlanta Hawks and the Phoenix Suns, two teams that the Mavs have lost to twice this season.  Despite being tied for the NBA’s worst record, the Mavs sit just a game back of falling from first to seventh in the lottery standings as the Brooklyn Nets currently occupy the 7th spot at 19-39.

The league’s new extended All Star Break will have the Mavericks without a game until Friday, February 23rd in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers.