Kings Bounce Mavericks

The Sacramento Kings owe a lot of the credit to their best start in 47 years to their "Bench Mob."

Predrag Stojakovic and Jon Barry scored 15 points each as Sacramento's reserves outscored Dallas' bench by 39 points Friday night in a 103-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

"If our bench continues to play the way we have been, we're going to be awful tough to beat," Barry said.

The Kings' bench has outscored the opposition 120-43 the last two nights, following a 52-13 discrepancy against Dallas. Sacramento's reserves beat Houston's 68-30 in Thursday night's win.

"The confidence we have in our bench is no fake," Webber said. "We compete with our bench in practice every day and that keeps all of us ready for the games. None of this surprises us."

Reserve point guard Darrick Martin gave Sacramento's backups the name "Bench Mob," and Martin is also a major contributor. Martin had 12 points and five assists Friday night.

"You should see our practices," Martin said. "We beat them (the starters) all the time. It gets ugly. We all play like we're starters. When we go in there, we either maintain the lead or lengthen it."

Michael Finley had 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for thMavericks, who had won three of their first four at home. Robert Pack had 20 points, Erick Strickland had 18 and Dirk Nowitzki 17 for Dallas.

Martin's layup with 3:48 left gave Sacramento a 92-91 lead. Webber added inside baskets on the Kings' next two possessions and converted two free throws with 1:15 to play as Sacramento built a 98-92 lead.

"That's him, he's a big-time player," Strickland said of Webber. "We didn't defend him well enough to make him kick it back outside. They're good, but we can play with anybody. We have to finish. We're tired of moral victories."

The Kings opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run capped by Webber's 20-foot jumper for an 86-80 advantage with 8:28 remaining.

Strickland scored five straight points and Finley hit two free throws during a 7-0 run as Dallas reclaimed the lead 87-86.

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