(Game notes taken from wire reports.) Dallas at Sacramento game (March 14) After 1, the game was tied at 22-22. The Mavs lead 36-29 with 6:39 left in the 2nd quarter on a 20-footer by Jamal Mashburn. Brian Grant's dunk with 44 seconds left pulled Sacramento within 4 points at 47-43 Dallas. And that was the halftime score. Mashburn had 14 points in the 1st half. Sacramento came on strong in the 3rd quarter and took a 71-62 lead with 2:50 left on a layup by Olden Polynice. Dallas responded by scoring the final 6 points of the quarter. After 3, Sacramento 71-68. Walt Williams scores 11 points in the quarter. The Mavs came back and took the lead at 81-79 with 7:13 left on a 20-footer by Roy Tarpley. Scott Brooks hit the jumper and Mashburn made a free throw and short jumper to push Dallas' lead up to 86-81 with 5:02 left. Spud Webb made a short jumper to bring Sacramento within 2 at 88-86 with 2:54 left. Mashburn answered with 2 and Grant connected on the jumper. Dallas 90-86 with 1:15 to go. Brooks made 1 of 2 free throws with 26 seconds left to give Dallas a 91-88 lead. Lorenzo Williams was fouled, but missed both free throws with 14 seconds left. Grant grabbed the rebound and Mitch Richmond nailed the long jumper with his toes on the 3-point line - so it was a 2-pointer, not the 3 the Kings needed - with 4 seconds left. Dallas quickly inbounded the ball and ran out the clock before Sacramento could foul them. Dallas 91, Sacramento 90. Jamal Mashburn led the scoring for Dallas with 27 point son 11-18 FG and 4-5 FT. Jason Kidd had 10 points on 4-15 FG and 6 assists. Both Popeye Jones and Lorenzo Williams had 12 rebounds, but Popeye's shooting slump continued as he had 8 points on a horrendous 4-17 FG. Scott Brooks led the bench with 13 points on 5-7 FG and 3-4 FT and Roy Tarpley contributed 10 points on 4-11 FG and 2-2 FT and 7 rebounds. Brian Grant had a great game and led the Kings with 27 points on 11-19 FG and 5-6 FT, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Olden Polynice had 17 points on 8-13 FG and 1-1 FT and 18 rebounds as the Kings out-rebounded Dallas (a rare feat this season) 53-45. Mitch Richmond had a poor game with 9 points on 4-14 FG, but contributed with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. The Kings have been in a slump losing 11 of their past 13 games. Denver is just 1 1/2 games behind in the race for the 8th playoff spot. Quotes: Dick Motta: "I thought that was a three-pointer. I saw [ref] Mathis raise his hand and I saw the shot go so I tried to call timeout. Then [assistant coach] Kip [Motta] said, 'No, no, no, that was a two,' and that was a two. It was a good call." Brian Grant: "Some people might say this one came down to the refs. But the fact of the matter is, we need to put games like this away early." Motta, who used 3 different guards on Mitch Richmond: "You don't shut Mitch down, we just delayed him a little bit." Jason Kidd: "We kept it close and that's want you want to do on the road, keep it close." Kidd: "We don't have any pressure on us. All we have to do is dress up and play while Denver and Sacramento fight for a playoff spot. There are still 20 games left and anything can happen." Garry St. Jean: "We're gonna make things very difficult on ourselves and to learn what the NBA is about is not through losing. It's by taking care care of business. We're playing inconsistent basketball." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 25 21 23 - 91 .453 .250 .425 .667 Sacramento 22 21 28 19 - 90 .487 .167 .444 .533 Halftime: 47-43 Dallas 3rd Q: 71-68 Sacramento Technicals: Jason Kidd 3:29 3rd Refs: Mike Mathis, David Jones, Tommie Wood Attendance: 17,317 (sell-out) Dallas REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Jamal Mashburn 39 11-18 1-3 4-5 27 0-3 2 2 0 3 0 Popeye Jones 27 4-17 0-0 0-0 8 7-12 5 3 1 0 0 Lorenzo Williams 31 3-4 0-0 0-2 6 3-12 2 4 1 1 2 Jason Kidd 33 4-15 1-4 1-1 10 0-1 6 0 0 1 0 Lucious Harris 17 2-4 0-1 0-0 4 0-2 1 0 1 1 0 Roy Tarpley 29 4-11 0-2 2-2 10 1-7 1 5 1 3 0 Scott Brooks 23 5-7 0-0 3-4 13 0-2 1 1 2 0 0 Doug Smith 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 3 0 1 1 George McCloud 12 1-5 0-0 3-3 5 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 Tony Dumas 20 2-4 1-2 1-4 6 0-2 1 2 1 2 0 Totals 240 37-87 3-12 14-21 91 12-45 20 20 7 12 3 Sacramento REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST PF STL TO BLK Brian Grant 40 11-19 0-0 5-6 27 4-14 0 3 0 4 5 Walt Williams 37 7-17 1-5 0-2 15 0-2 3 4 0 1 2 Olden Polynice 34 8-13 0-0 1-1 17 7-18 1 3 0 2 0 Mitch Richmond 41 4-14 1-5 0-0 9 1-9 5 3 0 1 1 Spud Webb 34 5-10 0-1 1-2 11 0-1 9 1 2 4 1 Lionnel Simmons 9 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 0 0 2 0 Michael Smith 16 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2-6 0 1 0 2 0 Bobby Hurley 9 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Alaa Abdelnaby 11 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 1-2 1 2 0 0 1 Randy Brown 9 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Totals 240 40-90 2-12 8-15 90 15-53 22 19 2 16 10 patricia