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Mavericks-Kings Preview

Nov 29, 2015 - 6:15 PM Rajon Rondo's short-lived stint with the Dallas Mavericks ended in ignominious fashion.

The NBA assists leader will face the Mavericks for the first time since leaving the club Monday night at home for the Sacramento Kings, who are hoping DeMarcus Cousins returns to the lineup.

Rondo was traded from Boston to Dallas on Dec. 28 in a move designed to help the Mavericks make a playoff push. It turned out to be a disaster, with the point guard never fitting into Rick Carlisle's system and serving a one-game suspension for a shouting match with the coach.

The Mavericks lost in the first round of the playoffs in five games to Houston. Rondo did not play in the final three of those due to a back injury the team said he did not disclose until he re-aggravated it in a loss in Game 2.

Rondo averaged 6.5 assists in 46 games with Dallas compared to 10.8 in his first 22 contests with the Celtics last season.

He's back to his usual level of production with a league-best 11.0 assists per game and NBA-high four triple-doubles with the Kings, whom he joined as a free agent in the offseason.

Sacramento (6-12) has dropped six straight and 21 of 23 meetings with Dallas.

Cousins could return from a three-game absence due to a lower back strain. He averages team highs of 27.9 points and 11.2 rebounds, and Sacramento is 1-7 in games he's missed.

"He's definitely an integral part to what we do," center Kosta Koufos said. "He's an All-Star, once he comes back we'll be clicking on all cylinders."

Dallas (10-7) signed Deron Williams in the offseason to fill its point guard vacancy. Williams scored a season-high 22 points Saturday to help the Mavericks end a three-game slide with a 92-81 home win over Denver.

After yielding 52 points in the first half, the Mavs outscored the Nuggets 25-5 in the third quarter.

''We finally played with a little more energy,'' Dirk Nowitzki said. ''Overall, I like how we worked for each other.''

The Mavs' two-game road trip concludes against Portland on Tuesday. They went 0-3 on the trip that preceded Saturday's contest.

"We've got an unselfish crew, guys that wanna play with each other and veterans that have been around and have been in all sorts of situations and just want to make it work, want to play off each other and want to have some fun," Nowitzki said. "It's been a decent start, (though) the last three games were a little rough."

The Kings were routed 120-101 on the road by Golden State on Saturday. Rudy Gay scored 20 points as he bounced back from scoring two on 1-of-13 shooting in Friday's 101-91 home defeat to Minnesota.

"We'll get back on the right track but right now, we've got to hopefully get healthy with Cous," coach George Karl said. "Once he gets in the lineup, I think we'll get our confidence in a good direction."