DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki and Rodrigue Beaubouis each had 15 points to lead six Dallas players in double figures, and the Mavericks beat the struggling Sacramento Kings 110-100 on Tuesday night before hitting the road.
After a 12-3 run early in the second quarter that Beaubouis started with a three-point play, the Mavericks never trailed again. Sacramento tied the score a few minutes after that, but Beaubouis made two free throws to put them ahead to stay in a much-needed victory.
Delonte West and Jason Terry each had 13 points, and Brendan Haywood 11 for Dallas. Shawn Marion had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
The Mavericks (32-26), who had lost three of their previous four games, are seventh in the Western Conference standings. They are a half-game behind sixth-place Houston and only a half-game ahead of Denver.
The Mavericks play six of their last eight games on the road, with a four-game trip in five days starting Thursday at Golden State. They play at home again next Wednesday against the Rockets.
DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 18 rebounds for Sacramento (19-39), which has lost five in a row and 10 of 12.
Marcus Thornton, Isaiah Thomas and Tyreke Evans each had 16 points for the Kings. Jimmer Fredette had 13.
Surprisingly, it was the first game the Mavericks won this season when Lamar Odom didn't play.
Dallas was 0-7 in games Odom missed before Tuesday, a day after the team said they had parted ways with the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year. His averages of 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 20.5 minutes in his underwhelming 50-game stint were career lows.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the end came after a heated halftime exchange with Odom after the forward's uninspired four minutes at Memphis on Saturday night.
"I just asked him, does he want to go for it or not. Is he in or is he out? I think he thought we were playing poker. I just didn't get a commitment. And that was the end," Cuban said before the game against the Kings in his first public comments about Odom's departure.
When asked if that was the first time he noticed Odom having such a demeanor, Cuban responded, "No, but the first 17 times, I decided to try to help him and turn it into a positive."
Odom is still on the roster, but the Mavericks said he would be listed as inactive for the rest of their games and is no longer with the team.
Soon after missing a layup and then getting called for traveling when he tried to grab the rebound and shoot again, Carter had a powerful one-handed slam over 7-foot Hassan Whiteside. Carter went along the baseline for the dunk late in the third quarter for an 81-75 Dallas lead.
Sacramento had an 8-0 run to get within 92-87 in the fourth quarter before West stole the ball from Cousins and got fouled. West hit both free throws and it never got closer.
The early 12-3 run over a 2 1/2-minute span came when Dallas had none of its starters on the floor
Beaubouis' had his three-point play before Vince Carter's 3-pointer put Dallas up 31-29.
Thornton made a 3-pointer for the Kings before Yi Jianlian had consecutive long jumpers that sandwiched a blocked shot by Carter before one of the highlight play of the night.
Carter had a steal and pushed the ball ahead to Terry, who threw the ball up in the air over his shoulder to a flying Brandan Wright for a powerful dunk.
NOTES: Jason Kidd returned for Dallas after missing four games with a strained right groin. The 39-year-old guard had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting with two air balls in his 1,310th career game, most among active players and 10th on the all-time list. ... Dallas had won 10 consecutive regular-season games in the series before Sacramento's 110-97 win at home last month.
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