One night after getting humiliated by Golden State, the Dallas Mavericks took out their frustration on the struggling Sacramento Kings.
Monta Ellis had 21 points and six assists to lead the Mavericks, minus Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo, to a 101-78 victory Thursday.
The Mavericks broke open a tie game in the second quarter when they made nine straight shots, including four 3-pointers, in a 3 1/2-minute span as they outscored the Kings 22-6. Dallas had a 37-20 edge in the second to take a 60-43 halftime lead.
Dallas was coming off one of its worst road games of the season Wednesday, squandering a 22-point lead and allowing Stephen Curry to score 51 points in a 128-114 loss to the Warriors.
"Everybody knew it was a big game," Mavericks guard J.J. Barea said. "They beat us and someone scored 51 points against us. You never like that."
Dallas outhustled the Kings and forced 17 turnovers. The Mavericks hit 12 3-pointers and committed just nine turnovers. Dallas led by 23 after three quarters and the cushion never got under 20 points in the fourth.
"It was a game we had to get. Last night was a really tough loss," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "We really wanted to bounce back and we did."
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Tyson Chandler had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Mavericks. Barea and Devin Harris each scored 15 points, and Richard Jefferson added 14.
Carlisle chose to rest Nowitzki on the second night of a back-to-back. The veteran forward, second on the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game, missed his fourth game of the season.
The Mavericks were also without Rondo (broken orbital bone), who missed his third straight game. The point guard is not expected back until after the All-Star break.
DeMarcus Cousins had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost two straight and 10 of 11. Rudy Gay added 11 points and nine rebounds, but shot 2 of 13. The Kings missed 18 of 21 attempts from 3-point territory and shot 36.7 percent overall.
After a promising 9-5 start to the season, Sacramento has dropped 26 of 34 games.
"It comes down to playing hard and with pride; have some self-respect and act like you care," Cousins said. "That's what it comes down to. There's nothing wrong with this team. It's the same team everybody was praising at the beginning of the season. It's just a matter of us changing our attitude."
It didn't help the Kings that point guard Darren Collison played only 14 minutes after straining an abdominal muscle in the first half.
Dallas completed a three-game sweep of the Kings. The Mavericks defeated Sacramento for a sixth straight time and have won 21 of 23 meetings in the last six years.
The Mavericks are 19-10 away from home and lead the NBA in road wins.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Ellis shot 14 of 40 in the previous two games, but was 7 of 8 in the first half against the Kings and had 17 points. He made a trio of 3-pointers and finished 9 of 16 from the field. ... Dallas improved to 17-2 when holding opponents under 100 points.
Kings: Ex-King Mitch Richmond sat courtside with his wife and was honored for his induction last year into the Hall of Fame. ... Another Hall of Fame player, former Celtics great Bill Russell, sat next to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive at midcourt.
UP NEXT
The Mavericks host Portland on Saturday.
The Kings play at Utah on Saturday.
