• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Martin helps Kings snap five-game slide

Jan 12, 2009 - 5:52 AM By Tom Galland PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- -Balanced scoring and and a strong second half helped the Sacramento Kings to a rare victory Sunday night at Arco Arena, ending a five-game losing streak.

Kevin Martin led six players in double figures with 21 points as the Kings battled back from a 13-point deficit and dealt the Dallas Mavericks a second straight demoralizing loss, 102-95.

The Mavericks lost by 28 points Friday at Phoenix before dropping this one to a Sacramento team that came into the game with just eight wins on the season.

"We moved the ball very well tonight," said reserve Francisco Garcia, who sparked the Kings off the bench with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

"Coach was talking about (passing) yesterday in practice - five passes, five passes. That's what we did tonight and it worked. The ball movement was key tonight."

Garcia helped ignite an 18-4 run to open the final quarter with a pair of 3-pointers. John Salmons finished the run with his own shot from the arc and the Kings looked to be in full control with a 94-82 lead and under four minutes left.

But Jason Terry, who started in place of the injured Josh Howard (wrist), refused to call it a night. Terry scored 10 points in a 90-second stretch to help the Mavericks close to within five points with 1:32 left.

The Kings then steadied on the defensive end and did just enough from the free-throw line, hitting 2-of-4 in the final 30 seconds, to hang on for the victory.

"Our doom was the 3-point line," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We did not shoot it very well and they shot 50 percent. It is disappointing. We played well to get a lead and just couldn't hold it."

Sacramento made 8-of-16 from the arc against a Dallas team that they were 0-of-15 against in a 101-78 blowout loss back in November.

Dirk Nowitzki struggled to find his shot for the third straight game, and his teammates weren't able to pick up the slack.

"It was a tough night shooting the ball (from the arc)," Nowitzki said. "Three-for-20 is not going to cut it. (Sacramento) made some shots. Garcia hit a couple threes in a row, Martin got hot there in the third. Our offense was obviously not going in the second half. We had to get some stops and just couldn't get it done."

Beno Udrih, the Kings' much-maligned starting point guard, delivered one of his best games of the year with 16 points, six assists and no turnovers.

"I just told Beno that's the kind of effort that we need from him," Kings interim coach Kenny Natt said. "I told him yesterday in practice that I was going to stay with him and just continue to give him an opportunity to play his way through."

Udrih hadn't reached double digits in scoring during the previous five games and had seen a decrease in his minutes as a result.

"It was a nice team win tonight," Martin said. "Beno and (Garcia) were the key reasons why we won the game and everyone else just played with passion."

Terry finished with 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting for the Mavericks, who closed out the second quarter with a 10-4 burst to break away from a tie game and take a 55-49 lead into intermission.

But Terry was the lone highlight for Dallas' offense.

With the loss, Dallas fell to 0-2 on its three-game road trip that ends Tuesday at Denver.