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Evans, Kings dig out of hole
With two players ailing, the reserve assists four starters in ending their four-game skid.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, February 14, 2005
BOSTON - First, Peja Stojakovic walked off the FleetCenter court to the locker room with a strained right hamstring, not to return.
Then, with 31 minutes left in the game, Darius Songaila limped off with what was called a bruised right knee. He returned to play five minutes in the second half.
But the Kings' depth, which they supposedly lacked, showed up in a big way as Maurice Evans combined with starters Mike Bibby, Brad Miller, Cuttino Mobley and Chris Webber to snatch a badly needed 104-100 victory from the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Kings coach Rick Adelman said his team struggled defensively in the first half but improved in the second.
"Weak side, we were awful," Adelman said he told his team at halftime. "I told them if they were trying to stop a four-game losing streak, the way you're going about it isn't going to do it. Our opponents averaged 117 (points) over the last (five games), and they were all close, so I'm not worried about our offense.
"But we were much better in the second half. When (Ricky) Davis, (Paul) Pierce and (Gary) Payton penetrated in the fourth quarter, someone was there, not like in the first half, when we were just giving layups."
Evans scored a career-high 17 points - eight in the fourth quarter - to help the Kings end their season-high skid. It was the 11th time this season the Kings have rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win.
Bibby scored 14 of his game-high 27 points during the fourth quarter, including two three-pointers in the final 3 1/2 minutes. Bibby's last three-pointer came with 43.7 seconds left, off a handoff from Webber, and gave the Kings a 102-100 lead they didn't relinquish.
"Webb kind of bobbled the pass (from Evans), and I think the defense relaxed a little bit, and I was able to get a clean look," Bibby said. "We had to just keep playing because we went through stretches when we couldn't make shots."
Webber's assist was his season-high-tying 12th to go with 14 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. It was Webber's third triple double in his last five games, fourth this season, 14th as a King and 21st of his NBA career.
Miller scored 18 of his 20 points during the first half, when the Celtics couldn't find a way to guard him. Mobley did a solid job defending All-Star forward Paul Pierce, who still finished with 22 points but wasn't able to take over the game.
Instead of falling apart down the stretch, as they have in recent games, the Kings held the Celtics to 5-of-19 field-goal shooting (26.3 percent) and four turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Kings, who trailed 81-77 to start the period, led 88-83 with 9:17 left, then trailed 96-93 with 3:28 remaining before scoring on their final five possessions.
"That was a horrible loss," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. " ... That was a game we let get away. But that's OK. We've obviously won some games that a lot of coaches probably have left this building saying the same thing."
Respect given, received - Following the game, Webber was excited after speaking on the phone to former Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers forward Karl Malone, who announced his retirement Sunday.
Webber said he told Malone that before he returned to the West Coast to play for the Kings, he really didn't know the NBA's second-leading all-time scorer. But over the years, Webber came to admire Malone.
"When I came to Sacramento," Webber said he told Malone, "I used him as an example of being in a small town and embracing it and letting it embrace me back. I told him I didn't want to respect him, because you want to have that mentality of being able to go at a guy. But I had to respect him, and I started stealing some of his stuff, like training on bicycles during the summer and doing 100 arm curls and things like that.
"I also asked him some things about leadership, and he gave me some personal thought about that, that I won't discuss. But I was just happy he took the time to call me back. I could hear in the background of the phone call that he sounded like he was at some kind of function."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12336219p-13203559c.html
With two players ailing, the reserve assists four starters in ending their four-game skid.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, February 14, 2005
BOSTON - First, Peja Stojakovic walked off the FleetCenter court to the locker room with a strained right hamstring, not to return.
Then, with 31 minutes left in the game, Darius Songaila limped off with what was called a bruised right knee. He returned to play five minutes in the second half.
But the Kings' depth, which they supposedly lacked, showed up in a big way as Maurice Evans combined with starters Mike Bibby, Brad Miller, Cuttino Mobley and Chris Webber to snatch a badly needed 104-100 victory from the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Kings coach Rick Adelman said his team struggled defensively in the first half but improved in the second.
"Weak side, we were awful," Adelman said he told his team at halftime. "I told them if they were trying to stop a four-game losing streak, the way you're going about it isn't going to do it. Our opponents averaged 117 (points) over the last (five games), and they were all close, so I'm not worried about our offense.
"But we were much better in the second half. When (Ricky) Davis, (Paul) Pierce and (Gary) Payton penetrated in the fourth quarter, someone was there, not like in the first half, when we were just giving layups."
Evans scored a career-high 17 points - eight in the fourth quarter - to help the Kings end their season-high skid. It was the 11th time this season the Kings have rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win.
Bibby scored 14 of his game-high 27 points during the fourth quarter, including two three-pointers in the final 3 1/2 minutes. Bibby's last three-pointer came with 43.7 seconds left, off a handoff from Webber, and gave the Kings a 102-100 lead they didn't relinquish.
"Webb kind of bobbled the pass (from Evans), and I think the defense relaxed a little bit, and I was able to get a clean look," Bibby said. "We had to just keep playing because we went through stretches when we couldn't make shots."
Webber's assist was his season-high-tying 12th to go with 14 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. It was Webber's third triple double in his last five games, fourth this season, 14th as a King and 21st of his NBA career.
Miller scored 18 of his 20 points during the first half, when the Celtics couldn't find a way to guard him. Mobley did a solid job defending All-Star forward Paul Pierce, who still finished with 22 points but wasn't able to take over the game.
Instead of falling apart down the stretch, as they have in recent games, the Kings held the Celtics to 5-of-19 field-goal shooting (26.3 percent) and four turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Kings, who trailed 81-77 to start the period, led 88-83 with 9:17 left, then trailed 96-93 with 3:28 remaining before scoring on their final five possessions.
"That was a horrible loss," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. " ... That was a game we let get away. But that's OK. We've obviously won some games that a lot of coaches probably have left this building saying the same thing."
Respect given, received - Following the game, Webber was excited after speaking on the phone to former Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers forward Karl Malone, who announced his retirement Sunday.
Webber said he told Malone that before he returned to the West Coast to play for the Kings, he really didn't know the NBA's second-leading all-time scorer. But over the years, Webber came to admire Malone.
"When I came to Sacramento," Webber said he told Malone, "I used him as an example of being in a small town and embracing it and letting it embrace me back. I told him I didn't want to respect him, because you want to have that mentality of being able to go at a guy. But I had to respect him, and I started stealing some of his stuff, like training on bicycles during the summer and doing 100 arm curls and things like that.
"I also asked him some things about leadership, and he gave me some personal thought about that, that I won't discuss. But I was just happy he took the time to call me back. I could hear in the background of the phone call that he sounded like he was at some kind of function."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12336219p-13203559c.html
