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Mavs seek 10th straight win at Sacramento

Feb 9, 2011 - 4:19 PM (Sports Network) - The Dallas Mavericks search for their 10th straight win tonight when they open a three-game road trip in California's capital against the Sacramento Kings.

Dallas, which is 16-7 on the road and will also face Denver and Houston on its trek, won for the ninth straight time on Monday when Jason Terry scored 23 points off the bench and the Mavericks beat Cleveland, 99-96, to extend the Cavs' NBA-record losing streak to 25 games.

Cleveland had a chance to tie, but like so many other times during a streak that has lasted nearly two months, couldn't pull through.

Anthony Parker missed a long three-point attempt several feet beyond the top of the arc in the final seconds. The Cavs secured the rebound, but passed the ball around the arc as time ran out.

Shawn Marion had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a reserve role for Dallas, while Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 and Tyson Chandler added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Mavericks, despite leading by as many as 15 points in the game, almost gave it away with a performance head coach Rick Carlisle called inconsistent.

"I thought there were times when it was really good, but our energy level was not where it's supposed to be," said Carlisle. "That's why we were so poor in transition defense."

The Kings, meanwhile, fell to 1-3 on a very-tough six-game homestand on Monday when Al Jefferson led a balanced Utah attack with 23 points, and the Jazz used a late fourth quarter surge for a 107-104 win over Sacramento.

Rookie DeMarcus Cousins paced the Kings with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Tyreke Evans added 21 points and Jason Thompson scored 14 for the Kings, who have dropped three straight.

A Cousins three-point play put the game at 105-104, but Andrei Kirilenko made good on 2-of-4 from the line down the stretch as the Kings missed their final three shots down, including Omri Casspi's three-point attempt at the buzzer, to end their chances of a comeback.

"We had our five best three-point shooters in there and we tried to run some screens to see if we could break somebody open and spread the floor for whoever could get the best shot," said Kings head coach Paul Westphal.

Sacramento, which is 7-20 at home, will finish its residency against Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Dallas has won seven straight and 15 of 17 over the Kings.