SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- This was a team making a bigger playoff splash than the Lakers. A team that looked unstoppable dropping 112 points a game in the first round, a team that could showcase five 3-point shooters at one time, a team with little use of a shot clock.

Which made the following hard to comprehend during Saturday's fourth quarter: the Mavericks, facing intense defensive pressure, swinging the ball across the court before Michael Finley forced a 25-foot jumper just before the 24-second clock expired.

The Dallas Mavericks entered their conference semifinal series against the Sacramento Kings expecting a track meet. Instead they panicked and collapsed when they were finally faced with a little “D.” So the Kings won easily, 108-91, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

We hear a lot about Sacramento's offense. About how the Kings' 104.6 points per game ranked second in the league. About Chris Webber's flashy dunks, about Peja Stojakovic's ability to drain the 3, about scoring enough points that seven players averaged in double figures during the regular season.

We don't hear a lot about Sacramento's defense, which just two seasons ago allowed 102 points per game. True, the 97.0 points the Kings gave up this season ranked an unimpressive 19th in the league. But check these stats during the regular season: second in the league in defensive rebounds, third in the league in steals and ninth in the league in field goal percentage allowed.

"We don't get fast breaks by taking the ball out and giving it to the point guard, we get fast breaks off of steals," Chris Webber was saying about his team's defense. "We're not just an offensive team trying to get buckets to win like in 'The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.' We play pretty good defense."

The problem for Dallas on Saturday was a combination of the Kings playing good defense, and the Mavs not being smart to work for good shots. The result: Dirk Nowitzki averaged 33.3 points and hit 52.6 percent of his shots in the first-round sweep of Minnesota, but had just 23 points on 8-for-24 shooting (33.3 percent) on Saturday. Finley averaged 24.7 points and hit half his shots in the first round, but had 21 points on eight of 19 shooting. And Steve Nash, after averaging 21 points and nine assists in the first round, had 12 points and five assists.

"We took challenged shots instead of making the next pass and getting them spread out," said a frustrated Dallas coach Don Nelson. "We showed them in the huddle where to make the extra pass -- obviously, they didn't see it in the game."

The Mavs will adjust offensively. Nelson has a great offensive mind and his team has too many weapons to be held under 100 points. But Dallas will not have a chance in this series if it is unwilling to get tough and play better defense.

Vlade Divac pretty much had his way in the post, finishing with 18 points and 16 boards. And his effort was needed as Webber, despite finishing with 20 points and 10 boards, had a horrible game. Thus the problem: You can play bad against the Mavs, and still double-double.

"We want to go to the post all the time," Kings coach Rick Adelman. "At the same time, doing that too much puts us in a halfcourt game. We want to have a nice mixture."

But don't think the game was all Raef LaFrentz, Nowitzki and Eduardo Najera (who broke his thumb in pregame warmups) getting abused. Mike Bibby was able to penetrate the lane at will, and the only reason why he finished with just 11 points is because on several drive attempts he was so shocked at being so wide open that he passed up easy layups.

Stojakovic's not exactly known to make an impact on the boards, but even he had a double-double -- 26 points, 10 rebounds -- while grabbing four offensive boards. Three Kings recorded double-doubles (Stojakovic, Webber and Divac) and if Bibby had just two more assists it would have been four.

So much for the Mavs being this unstoppable offensive machine. So much for the Mavs rising to become a formidable challenger to the Lakers. So much for the adaptation of a new brand of basketball, a style that's a throwback to the high-flying days of the ABA.

Defense wins games. Toughness is a trait of playing good defense. This current Kings team has learned that after experiencing playoff disappointment over the past three seasons. This current Mavs team has, at the most, six games in this series to make that adjustment.

"We knew we wouldn't go undefeated in the playoffs, we knew we'd have one game where our shots wouldn't fall," Finley said. "We still have to find a way to win, and we're confident that we can. You don't win a series in one game."