Sacramento's offense, sluggish in the past few games, looked better throughout tonight's contest, and it was clear from the outset. The Kings came in with energy and looked to get out in transition at every possible opportunity. The Kings ended up with 24 fastbreak points to 20 for Dallas. They also moved the ball much better and rarely went into isolation mode. The end result was 24 assists to 14 turnovers, the first time they've broken the 20 assist barrier since their last win. Every Kings player who played meaningful minutes had an assist except for Marcus Thornton.

Having Marcus really helped the Kings offense just in terms of having another consistent threat on the floor. Opposing defenses have to respect Marcus, and that improves spacing for the team. Marcus is also probably the best Kings player at moving without the ball, which results in easy bucket opportunities.

Jason Thompson shared the PF role for the most part with Greene, playing 25 minutes off the bench and contributing 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. He did have 5 fouls however, some of which were very ticky-tack. JT had trouble scoring through his post-moves tonight, but did do a good job of getting to the line, leading the Kings in attempts with 7.

Jimmer Fredette again saw extended minutes, and for the good reason that he's finally earned them. He's playing more confidently and with more consistency now, at least on offense. Tonight he did a little bit of everything, dishing to his teammates and hitting his shots, basically doing exactly what the Kings needed him to do. He got burned a few times by Beaubois and Terry, but that's to be expected. Kings fans have been mostly down on Jimmer for his play this year, but I still think he has a chance to be a very good NBA player. He's smart and a hard worker, and those are two big keys to improving your game.

The Kings were able to gain some momentum back in the 3rd quarter thanks to an aggressive Isaiah Thomas, who scored 12 points and dished 3 assists in the 3rd. Isaiah really looked like he wanted to will the team back and he did so. He was getting into the lane, spotting up from three, and finding guys like DeMarcus Cousins right at the rim for easy scores. Aggressive Isaiah Thomas is my favorite Isaiah Thomas. Isaiah cut the Dallas lead to 4 with 37 seconds left in the quarter on a three ball, but Dallas's Beaubois answered back with yet another layup.

Dallas really blew open the game at the beginning of the 4th quarter, going on a 9-2 run over the first four minutes to open up a 13 point lead, their largest of the game. There was still plenty of time though, and the Kings went on their own 8-0 run in response, capped off by a Jimmer Fredette three pointer to cut the lead to 5 points. That was as close as the Kings would get though, as Dallas pushed the lead back up to 10 and were able to trade buckets with the Kings from then on.

Offensively, the Kings have proven that they can hang with some of the best teams in the league already. The next step will have to come on the other end of the court though, as it doesn't matter how much you score if you give up more on the other end. Some of it has to do with personnel, and some of it has to do with experience. If the Kings can make a leap on defense while still playing this type of offense, they'll be a threat to win every night.

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