Green stars in rout of Kings

LAS VEGAS – The Dallas Mavericks, led by Gerald Green’s explosive 18-points, defeated the Sacramento Kings 93-71. The win was the largest margin of victory thus far in the 2008 NBA Summer League Presented by EA Sports which is taking place inside the COX Pavilion on UNLV’s campus.

Charles Rhodes came up big for Dallas as well, recording a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double performance en route to the team’s second win in the summer classic.

“It was a pretty good game,” said Green of his game. “I slowed down my offense today and it worked out pretty well for me. My tempo was one of the problems with the first two games I played, I really didn’t slow it down - I was kind of forcing the issue, so today I slowed it down and let it come to me a little bit. And, that is a credit to the coaches.”

Sacramento got off to a hot start in the first quarter, leading the Mavericks the whole way to finish the period up 10; 21-11. Dallas surged back in the second, going on an 11-0 run to take the lead at 22-21 with 7:46 to play. In the quarter, Dallas outscored the Kings 35-11 in the second. Despite the slow start, the Mavericks owned a 14-point lead, 46-32, their largest of the game, going into the halftime break.

Dallas’ hot hand extended into the third period, as the squad finished with a commanding 20-point lead, 69-49, on the back of Gerald Green’s 14-point quarter. It was deja vu all over again in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks continued their winning ways, stretching their lead to as many as 27 in the quarter.

Sacramento was led by Spencer Hawes’ 17 points in the loss.

Next up: Dallas returns to action on Thursday, July 17, when they face the Detroit Pistons at 1 p.m. Sacramento’s next game comes on Friday, when they take on the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. Both contests are set to take place in the COX Pavilion.

Check out Summer League Central 2008 for the box score and more info on the team, including stats, the schedule and standings.