Yup, you heard right. The Mavs finally won a home game! Yeah! With the win, they only have the most consecutive home losses in NBA history at 19 games, not the U.S. record for consecutive home losses in any sports which is held by the 1953 St. Louis Browns at 20 losses. Mashburn: "It's a big relief. I'm not expecting the fans to fill up the place next time, but for a change it's nice to be in this locker room and not be talking about a moral victory." Two Mavs deserve the most credit for the win. Randy White was the star of the game giving a huge boost off the bench. He had 17 points on 6-10 FG, 2-2 3-ptr (yup, two 3 pointers from Raaandy. They announced him missing a third three, but the refs must have ruled it a 2), and 3-4 FT and 14 rebounds. The one missed free throw came at the end of the game and Doug Smith snuck in there and slammed it home to practically seal the win. Jim Jackson played great and had 24 points on 10-15 FG, 1-1 3- ptr, and 3-5 FT and 5 assists. The two missed free throws came late in the game (before White's miss) and gave the Kings a chance to swing the momentum. (I thought that Mavs were going to fall apart after the misses, but fortunately they proved me wrong - I called my folks after the game and they had thought the same thing.) Jackson made up for the misses by stealing a King's pass with about 20 seconds left and the Mavs up by 3. Jackson passed to Lever who was fouled by Richmond, his 6th, and Lever made the two free throws to seal the win. Jackson also banked in a three at the buzzer to end the 1st half. Several other players deserve mention for their solid/key performance. Fat Lever's stats weren't spectacular, but he was integral in the Mavs' come back in the second quarter and their play in the 2nd half. He had 12 points on 4-8 FT and 4-4 FT. Lucious Harris was also a spark of the bench. Sweet Lou had several offensive rebounds and had 8 rebounds total. He also had 10 points on 3-7 FG and 4-6 FG. And newcomer Tony Campbell, fresh from IR, had 12 points on 4-10 FG and 4-4 FT. The rest of the Mavs: Jamal Mashburn continued struggling offensively, but did contribute in other ways. He had 16 points on 5-14 FG, 0-2 3- ptrs, and 6-9 FT, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Doug Smith did have a few key plays, but White was definitely the better power forward last night. He had 4 points on 1-6 FT and 2-2 FT. Terry Davis had 4 points on 2-2 FG. Tim Legler had 9 points on 4-6 FG and 1-3 3-ptrs. The Kings: Mitch Richmond was definitely the star of the game for the Kings. He had 34 points on 13-24 FG, 3-9 3-ptrs, and 5-7 FT, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. Fortunately, he was plagued by foul trouble in the 4th. He got his 4th foul with about a minute left in the 3rd quarter and got his 5th foul about a minute into the 4th quarter with a loose ball foul as both he and Lucious Harris were going for the loose ball. He didn't return until about 3 minutes left in the game. Trevor Wilson also had a great game. he had 18 points on 8-12 FG and 2-2 FG and 10 rebounds. Spud Webb was as pesky as ever and had 15 points on 6-12 FG, 1-4 3-ptrs, and 2-2 FT and 9 assists. Walt Williams had an off night with 7 points on 2-5 FG, 0-1 3- ptrs, and 3-4 FT. Wayman Tisdale had 16 points on 3-12 FG and 6-7 FT. Lionel Simmons never seemed in the game and had 9 points on 4-7 FG and 1-1. Randy Brown had 0 points on 0-1 FG and 0-2 FT. L. Smith had 2 points on 1-3 FG. Both teams shot well. The Kings shot over 60% FG in the 1st quarter and had a 13 point lead at one point,but weren't able to hold it. The Mavs shot over 60% FG in the 2nd quarter and built a 12 (not sure on that number) lead, but weren't able to hold it. The Mavs finished at 50% FG and the Kings at 51% FG. Dallas out-rebounded Sacramento 41-33. And the big factor, Dallas' bench out-scored Sacramento's bench 48-9. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Sacramento 28 22 31 20 - 101 Dallas 21 36 26 25 - 106 I was surprised and concerned that Popeye Jones did not play at all. He's had reduced minutes in previous games and I was concerned that he had lost favor with Buckner. The announcers didn't realized that he hadn't played until the mid-4th quarter and didn't know why (my folks didn't know why either). I was very relieved to read in Justin Ridge's news that Popeye suffering from a pelvis problem. (Yes, a weird thing to be relieved about.) As you probably know, Sean Rooks is back on IR with a stress fracture in his 4th metatarsal on his left foot. He will be out 6-8 weeks. There was speculation that they would keep him out for the rest of the season to let it heal fully, but Norm Sonju said that Rooks would return when he was ready. The starting line up for last night's game was: Fat Lever at point, Jim Jackson at 2 guard, Jamal Mashburn at small forward, Doug Smith at power forward, and Terry Davis at center. Being that Sacramento doesn't have a strong center, the Mavs often had a lineup of 3 forwards and 2 guards or 2 forwards and 3 guards (and if you want to say that Terry Davis isn't a true center, they had one of those two lineups in for the whole game). And just in for NBC Showtime: Buckner has hired former Mav coach Dick Motta as a consultant to replace Stu Inman. This should help Buckner with his interaction with the upper management, especially since Motta is still a good friend of Don Carter. Smart move by Buckner.