The Sacramento Kings travel to Texas to face the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.

The Kings (21-32) are playing their best basketball of the season right now. While a 6-3 stretch over their last nine games is a good sign, it looks even better when you consider the competition. The only three losses in that span came against the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Those are three teams that anyone would struggle with and it's a promising sign to see this team finally playing up to expectations. Even though they've been playing better, the offense has been unacceptable. This is a club that ranked Top-5 in scoring throughout most of last season and they currently sit 24th in that statistic this year. That's a horrendous mark from a team that has a bunch of young offensive studs and one has to believe that they'll be much better in the second half with this sort of form heading into the break.

The Mavericks (32-22) are one of the only teams in the league who have been better away from home. In fact, they currently own a 14-14 record at American Airlines Center while posting an 18-8 road record. That's truly bizarre and there's really no reasoning for it when you consider that this is one of the best fanbases in the NBA. The All-Star break couldn't have come at a better time either, with this club reeling headed into the break. The Mavs currently own a 5-7 record over their last 12 games which is no surprise when you see that they've been playing without Luka Doncic. The superstar point guard is currently dealing with an ankle issue but there's some belief that he can return here. Getting that 30-point triple-double stud back into the fold is just what the doctor ordered and this is surely a team to fear in the second half.

These teams have split their two meetings this season. Prior to that, the Kings won their previous three games over the Mavericks.