King-Mavs series bad excuse for two teams known for offense

Sacramento's 94-92 victory gave the Kings a 3-1 lead in the series.
DALLAS (AP) -- The supposedly high-scoring, fun-to-watch series between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks hasn't exactly lived up to expectations.
So it was fitting that the pivotal Game 4 was settled by a miss.
Dallas' Steve Nash got stuck at the top of the key and put up a fading 18-footer over Peja Stojakovic as time expired Monday night. The ball clanged off the rim, giving the Kings a 94-92 victory and 3-1 series lead heading home for Game 5 on Thursday night.
For a third straight game, this matchup between the league's two highest-scoring teams looked like something out of a bad Eastern Conference matchup. They spent so much energy on defense that they seemed to have nothing left once they got the ball back.
Got physical
"It got a little physical, but you've got to expect that," Sacramento's Doug Christie said. "It's playoff time."
The Kings shot 40 percent, hitting just 3-of-14 on 3-pointers. They were at their best in the third quarter, making 12-of-20 field goals thanks to Stojakovic swishing all five shots he took.
Stojakovic had a run late in the quarter where he hit a three-point play, a long jumper, a 3-pointer and a baseline floater. Those 10 points came during a spurt in which Sacramento went from down by two to leading by five. The Kings never trailed again.
"I knew I had to be aggressive and keep shooting the ball," said Stojakovic, who scored 20 and had 11 rebounds.
Mike Bibby led Sacramento with 22 points, while Chris Webber had 17 points and nine rebounds. Brad Miller added 10 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, and Doug Christie had 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.
The usually jump shot-happy Mavericks were aggressive in going to the basket, yet had no touch, shooting 35 percent. Many of their drives resulted in free throws, but they couldn't make those either.
Shots not falling
The league's most-accurate foul shooters missed 10 of their first 20 and finished with 13 misses. They'd missed 14 over the first three games.
"We fought on the defensive end, but it's hard when you don't shoot well," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We missed too many layups and free throws. I got good looks, but I couldn't hit any baskets. It was a tough time to have one of the worst games of my life."
Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 21 points, but shot just 5-of-22; two of his baskets were dunks. He was 11-of-14 at the foul line, including two with 33 seconds remaining that got Dallas within two.
Bibby missed a tough jumper with about 10 seconds to go that could've given Sacramento a four-point lead. Webber caught the rebound but was standing out of bounds.
With 8.4 seconds remaining, Nash took an inbounds pass and ran behind a screen from Nowitzki, jarring Bibby away and forcing Stojakovic onto Nash. Stojakovic was able to contain Nash behind the foul line. He didn't have time to pass back to Nowitzki, so he put it up himself.
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