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The Sacramento Kings have won three straight games to move to 7-12 on the season. They no longer sit winless on the road, thanks to a blowout win in Portland. DeMarcus Cousins has come alive, averaging 20 and 13 during the streak. The team's best player this season, Tyreke Evans, missed two of the three wins and four of the last five games overall, but isn't expected to remain out much longer (if at all). Things are improving rapidly ...
... and, oh, we have to play good teams now? Damn.
There's no way around it: the three wins have been against mediocre teams, the Raptors, Magic and Blazers. The Mavericks, Monday's opponent, are quite better. Dallas is 10-10 without Dirk Nowitzki, and beat the Rockets on Saturday. They had Sunday off. O.J. Mayo's been a real star for them, and the best 2012 free agent to date. If Evans plays, that'll be a terrific match-up. Tyreke did well against Memphis over the years.
The Kings and Mavericks tip off at 5:30 p.m. Pacific on Comcast SportsNet California and 1140 AM. I did a Q&A on the Kings for SB Nation Dallas. We'll have a game thread then. Fan predictions will be up later this morning.