A good sign that your team is successful is when they win the majority of games at home while winning a good percentage while away from their home venue. If you’re winning 40%, then consider yourself successful.

The Dallas Mavericks can consider themselves one of the few teams in the Association that are relatively successful on the road.

Arco Arena was the venue for the Mavericks’ game against the Sacramento Kings, who were looking to continue their surprising success at home. And has been their custom as of late, a stifling defense along with timely scoring from Dirk Nowitzki helped Dallas secure a 99-91 win over Sacramento.

Taking advantage of several Sacramento miscues, which they turned into lay-ups at the other end, the Mavericks reeled off 13 straight points in the second quarter. Jose Juan Barea scored 13 points and Nowitzki had 11 for the Mavericks. Jason Thompson had 13 points for the Kings and Omri Casspi added 11. Jason Kidd scored eight points and Nowitzki had six in the third quarter when the Mavericks built the lead to 13 points and went into the fourth ahead 77-67.

The Kings ran off 11 straight points to pull to 93-87 on Donte Greene’s 3-pointer with 30.1 seconds left. Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Nowitzki all made two free throws in the final 29 seconds to help seal the victory for the Mavericks. The Kings have now dropped three consecutive games.

The Mavericks’ high scorer was Nowitzki with 25 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and a block while Barea added 17 with a rebound, 3 assists and a steal; Howard chipped in 16 with 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Drew Gooden grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Kings were led by Casspi with 22 points (including 4 treys), a career-high 11 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block while Thompson added 15 with 10 rebounds and an assist; Tyreke Evans, returning from a sprained ankle, chipped in 14 with 5 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal.

Dallas (23-10) plays again on Sunday when they travel south to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers while Sacramento (14-19) remains at home to host the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night.