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Nowitzki, Mavericks look to rebound vs. struggling Kings

Apr 3, 2007 - 4:40 PM Dallas (61-12) at Sacramento (30-42) 10:00 pm EDT

SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks will try to use a familiar punching bag to get the taste of a bad loss out of their mouths.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks seek to complete a season sweep of the Sacramento Kings when the teams face off Tuesday.

Dallas is coming off its worst loss of the season, a 126-104 thrashing at the hands of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Josh Howard scored 28 points and Jerry Stackhouse added 25 off the bench for the Mavericks, who allowed the Suns to shoot a season-best 65 percent (46-of-71) against them.

Nowitzki had 21 points on 6-of-18 shooting and left the game in the fourth quarter with a twisted ankle. However because San Antonio (52-21) lost at Indiana later on Sunday, Dallas (61-11) clinched the Southwest Division title. It is just the second division championship the franchise has collected in its 27-year history.

Sacramento (30-42) is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in the last eighth seasons. The Kings are last in the Pacific Division and are 5 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers (36-37) for the eighth seed in the West with 10 games left.

The Kings have dropped two straight, including 126-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Ron Artest scored 26 points and Kevin Martin added 23 for Sacramento, which has lost four straight and 12 of its last 15 vs. Dallas.