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Mavericks try to stay on track against Kings

Apr 6, 2014 - 1:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - After defeating both teams from Los Angeles to start a four-game road trip, the Dallas Mavericks will resume the trek Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.

The Mavericks topped the Clippers 113-107 on Thursday, then handed the Lakers a 107-95 defeat the following night. The Mavericks recorded their first series sweep of the Lakers thanks to Dirk Nowitzki, who finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. Nowitzki has scored 20 or more points in five of his last six games, posting 26.3 points and 9.5 rebounds over the stretch.

Brandon Wright scored 23 points off the bench, Shawn Marion netted 15 and Samuel Dalembert ended with 14 and 14 boards for Dallas, which has won 10 of its last 15 games and is seventh in the West -- one-half game ahead of Memphis and Phoenix and 1 1/2 games behind Golden State.

Dallas outscored the Lakers 64-44 in the paint and Wright became the first Maverick in franchise history to make at least 10 field goals without a miss. He finished 10-of-10 shooting for a season high in points.

"No one wants to miss shots," Wright said. "My teammates made some great passes to me. I always feel good on back-to-backs. We had a sense of urgency in the fourth quarter and pulled away."

Dallas improved to 21-17 as the guest and is unbeaten in the past four road games. It will close the trip Tuesday against the Utah Jazz.

Meanwhile, the Kings are playing out the string and will host Dallas and Oklahoma City on their quick homestand.

The Kings have lost four of their last six games and suffered a 102-69 setback at Golden State on Friday, as the Warriors posted a 59-27 halftime lead and opened the third quarter on a 16-6 run for a 75-33 cushion.

Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins was in foul trouble early in the game and scored 14 of his 19 points in the third quarter. He grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double, 48th of the season, for the Kings, who finished with a season low in points (69), field goal percentage (32.1) and field goals made (25-of-78).

The Kings were averaging 103.0 ppg in the previous three games. Rudy Gay and Jason Thompson scored 10 points apiece in defeat.

"A very tough night all the way around for us," said Kings coach Michael Malone. "Hopefully we can respond against Dallas on Sunday."

Kings guard Isaiah Thomas missed his sixth straight game with a right quadriceps contusion and is out indefinitely. He is averaging 20.7 points and a team-high 6.4 assists.

Sacramento has lost two of three games against Dallas this season and is just 2-17 in the previous 19 meetings between the teams. The Mavericks have prevailed in 10 of the past 15 trips to California's capital.