Not in their house

#1
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/11375071p-12289552c.html

Not in their house


After starting 0-3 on the road, the Kings roll as Chris Webber posts a triple double.

By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer

Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, November 10, 2004


It's amazing how good a team can look when it makes shots.Whether it was because they were playing their home opener or benefiting from the law of averages, the Kings fed off Chris Webber's triple double for a 108-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

Before a sellout crowd of 17,317 at Arco Arena, the Kings bounced back from their 0-3 season-opening trip to Texas. They shot 39 percent in those losses but regained their touch against Toronto, hitting 45 of 83 (54.2 percent) shots. The Raptors (3-1) had not allowed an opponent to shoot above 47 percent.

Webber assisted on the game's first four baskets and finished with 11 assists, 11 rebounds and 21 points for his 18th career triple double and 11th with the Kings. In the first quarter, he had seven assists, five more than Toronto. His pass to Mike Bibby for a jumper with 3:02 left in the third quarter gave him the triple double.

Webber did not practice Monday because his surgically repaired left knee was sore, but he displayed no visible effects against the Raptors. Coach Rick Adelman said Monday he assumed Webber would be ready to go, but there was no way to know he would be this ready.

Asked if he felt the crowd's pregame apprehension after Sacramento's 0-3 start, Adelman said: "You think they were apprehensive. Whatever level of apprehension they had was a lot lower than mine."

Seeing how his team was passing and Toronto was defending made Adelman feel a lot better.

"At the start of the game, we were really moving the ball," Adelman said, "and we told the guys that if we ran our stuff, we would get good looks."

Brad Miller also had a fine game with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Bobby Jackson came off the Kings' bench to score 18 points.

Jalen Rose and Rafer Alston had 15 points each to lead the Raptors. Vince Carter shot just 4 of 16 and had only 12 points.

The Kings scored the game's first nine points and never trailed as they improved to 15-5 in home openers during their Sacramento era.

Sacramento led by 14 in the first half before Toronto made a late second-quarter run to narrow the gap to 52-45 at halftime.

Carter's two free throws brought the Raptors within 52-47 to begin the third quarter, but they came no closer. Fueled by Webber's 11 points, the Kings went on a 19-9 run to start the third and moved ahead 71-54.

From there, it was garbage time. Sacramento's lead grew to 104-76 before 10 fourth-quarter turnovers, primarily by reserves, reduced the Kings' advantage.

"We turned it over a lot at the end," Adelman said. "But we turned it over because we wanted to make great plays. We didn't have to do that."

What the Kings did do was defend fairly well all evening. They did have lapses in coverages and decision-making, but the lapses were much easier to deal with since they shot better than 50 percent in every quarter. Sacramento also had 31 assists, 11 by Bibby.

Adelman said his players are in a learning process.

"I think this team needs to find out what it has to do to win games," he said. "Not last year's team, but this team because the two are different."

First-year Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said his team knows what it has to do to win but failed to execute.

"We just took bad shots and didn't pass the ball to each other," he said. "This is just the first night we didn't come out and pass anything. It was like we were strangers. (The Kings) played well. They played defense. They passed the ball."