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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11744232p-12630281c.html
Kings slop way to overtime win
They turn the ball over 24 times against the depleted Pacers.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, December 12, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS - Just last week, Kings coach Rick Adelman told his team that if it wanted to lose a game against the Boston Celtics, go ahead and do it.
The Kings needed no such admonition Saturday night since their erratic ballhandling tendencies showed every mannerism of a team bent on self-destruction.
However, Sacramento, which entered the game leading the NBA in fewest turnovers committed per game, shook off a season-high 24 and found a way to come away with a 97-92 victory over the injured, suspended and downright unlucky Indiana Pacers before a crowd of 17,091 at the downtown Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Kings (14-6) improved their road mark to 5-5 one night after their four-game road winning streak was broken in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sacramento has won 13 of its past 15 games, with the only losses coming against Minnesota.
Adelman accepts any victory, even if it comes via a struggle against a team with Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal serving suspensions, former Kings forward Scot Pollard (sore lower back) and Jonathan Bender (sore right knee) on the injured list and point guard Jamaal Tinsley (sprained right ankle) out temporarily with a sprained right ankle.
"It's a win," Adelman said. "It was quite a battle. We knew they would play with a lot of energy."
Both teams played the night before on the road, and the Pacers (10-10) had lost six straight entering the contest. But it was the Kings who threw the ball around the gym as if they were a foil in a movie about Indiana high school basketball.
Sacramento had averaged 13.1 turnovers per game entering the game but had 12 by halftime. The major culprits were Doug Christie (six overall), Chris Webber (five), Bobby Jackson (five) and Mike Bibby (four). Of course, they also were the primary playmakers.
Webber scored a game-high 26 points on 12 of 24 field goals, grabbed 10 rebounds and had six assists.
Brad Miller was solid with 11 points and team highs of 13 rebounds and seven assists as well as clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Bibby scored 21 on 9 of 16 field-goal attempts and had five assists, as well as a steal from Indiana's Freddie Jones midway through overtime that gave the Kings a 89-87 lead. Pacers forward Austin Croshere then stuck a three-pointer from the top of the key for a 90-89 Indiana lead with 1:59 left.
Things didn't look good for the Kings when Webber missed a hook and then hit his head on the floor when he fell after the miss. But the Pacers couldn't follow up. Indiana missed shots from three-point range all evening (3 of 24 overall), and Croshere missed a wide-open chance to go ahead by six with 1:30 left.
Bibby then made a 12-foot jumper that bounced on the rim three times before falling through the net for a 91-90 lead with 1:14 left. Croshere missed another three with 49 seconds left, and Reggie Miller, who was 1 of 9 from three-point range, did the same.
Christie and Miller combined to make six straight free throws during the final 13.6 seconds of overtime for the victory.
"I will say one thing right now," Webber said after the game. "We respect the hell out of the Indiana Pacers. For them to be depleted the way they are and to be playing with the group of guys the way they are says a lot about what this organization is about. I was nervous, really nervous, going into (Saturday night's) game." Indiana's Jeff Foster didn't make things any better for Webber by running around the Kings' front line for a career-high 18 rebounds, 12 offensive for another career high.
Kings slop way to overtime win
They turn the ball over 24 times against the depleted Pacers.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, December 12, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS - Just last week, Kings coach Rick Adelman told his team that if it wanted to lose a game against the Boston Celtics, go ahead and do it.
The Kings needed no such admonition Saturday night since their erratic ballhandling tendencies showed every mannerism of a team bent on self-destruction.
However, Sacramento, which entered the game leading the NBA in fewest turnovers committed per game, shook off a season-high 24 and found a way to come away with a 97-92 victory over the injured, suspended and downright unlucky Indiana Pacers before a crowd of 17,091 at the downtown Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Kings (14-6) improved their road mark to 5-5 one night after their four-game road winning streak was broken in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sacramento has won 13 of its past 15 games, with the only losses coming against Minnesota.
Adelman accepts any victory, even if it comes via a struggle against a team with Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal serving suspensions, former Kings forward Scot Pollard (sore lower back) and Jonathan Bender (sore right knee) on the injured list and point guard Jamaal Tinsley (sprained right ankle) out temporarily with a sprained right ankle.
"It's a win," Adelman said. "It was quite a battle. We knew they would play with a lot of energy."
Both teams played the night before on the road, and the Pacers (10-10) had lost six straight entering the contest. But it was the Kings who threw the ball around the gym as if they were a foil in a movie about Indiana high school basketball.
Sacramento had averaged 13.1 turnovers per game entering the game but had 12 by halftime. The major culprits were Doug Christie (six overall), Chris Webber (five), Bobby Jackson (five) and Mike Bibby (four). Of course, they also were the primary playmakers.
Webber scored a game-high 26 points on 12 of 24 field goals, grabbed 10 rebounds and had six assists.
Brad Miller was solid with 11 points and team highs of 13 rebounds and seven assists as well as clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Bibby scored 21 on 9 of 16 field-goal attempts and had five assists, as well as a steal from Indiana's Freddie Jones midway through overtime that gave the Kings a 89-87 lead. Pacers forward Austin Croshere then stuck a three-pointer from the top of the key for a 90-89 Indiana lead with 1:59 left.
Things didn't look good for the Kings when Webber missed a hook and then hit his head on the floor when he fell after the miss. But the Pacers couldn't follow up. Indiana missed shots from three-point range all evening (3 of 24 overall), and Croshere missed a wide-open chance to go ahead by six with 1:30 left.
Bibby then made a 12-foot jumper that bounced on the rim three times before falling through the net for a 91-90 lead with 1:14 left. Croshere missed another three with 49 seconds left, and Reggie Miller, who was 1 of 9 from three-point range, did the same.
Christie and Miller combined to make six straight free throws during the final 13.6 seconds of overtime for the victory.
"I will say one thing right now," Webber said after the game. "We respect the hell out of the Indiana Pacers. For them to be depleted the way they are and to be playing with the group of guys the way they are says a lot about what this organization is about. I was nervous, really nervous, going into (Saturday night's) game." Indiana's Jeff Foster didn't make things any better for Webber by running around the Kings' front line for a career-high 18 rebounds, 12 offensive for another career high.
