LMM
Starter
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12620477p-13474394c.html
Peja enjoys his own throwback night
He is 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and scores a season-best 38 points as the Kings avoid a season sweep by the Mavs.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, March 25, 2005
Kings forward Peja Stojakovic, driving against Dallas' Alan Henderson, shot 69 percent from the field Thursday night.
Peja Stojakovic kept saying his game was going to come together.
Thursday night, he proved himself right with a season-and game-high 38 points during a 109-101 Kings victory over the Dallas Mavericks before a sellout crowd of 17,317 at Arco Arena Thursday night.
"I kept telling you guys that I had to play my way through the struggles," Stojakovic said. "What else could I do? Sit at home? I had to get back into shape, stay on the court and keep working."
For one of the NBA's most proficient shooters, Stojakovic might have had the most efficient scoring night of his seven-year career. He scored his 38 points on 9 of 13 field-goal attempts (6 of 8 from three-point range) and by making all 14 of his free-throw tries.
As that sharpshooter from French Lick, Ind., former Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird might say, if that's not his best, it's pretty dad-gum good.
Kings coach Rick Adelman was happy to see Stojakovic grab six of his team-high nine rebounds during the first quarter.
"(Peja) was very, very aggressive from the beginning," Adelman said. It was the second game this season Stojakovic has led the team in scoring and rebounding. "He got three or four of those rebounds early, and he was pursuing the ball, not just standing there. That shows he was aggressive."
And the Kings (43-27) needed all of that aggression because the Mavericks (45-23) seemed on their way to their fourth victory in as many meetings at halftime following a 40-point second quarter that gave them a 58-51 advantage.
"We held them to 18 points in the first quarter," Adelman said, "then they got 40 in the second, and so many of them were unnecessary. They got six in like the last (1:21 of the half) because of mental mistakes. But we played a lot harder and smarter in the second half and made them take shots under pressure."
The Mavericks scored just 43 second-half points combined, in part, because Darius Songaila came off the bench to help limit Dirk Nowitzki to three-of-nine field-goal shooting in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki still finished with a team-high 35 points, but the Mavs were just nine of 28 from the field in the fourth and 15 of 45 in the second half.
"The main thing is helping each other," said Kings guard Mike Bibby in a familiar refrain. "A lot of (their) points were off us hugging (staying with) our man and them getting to the basket for a wide-open shot. We tried to cut that out in the second half."
The players on each side of the court did a far more competent job than did the officiating crew of Jack Nies, David Jones and Mark Ayotte. Although their work was terribly inconsistent all evening the most egregious situation occurred on two flagrant foul calls to Nowitzki and Kings forward Kenny Thomas.
Nowitzki committed his from behind on a breakaway scoring attempt by Thomas in the second quarter and made no play on the ball. The Dallas forward swung his right arm down hard over both arms of Thomas and drove him into the floor. That was a legitimate flagrant foul. The only question was whether or not Nowitzki, who somehow protested the call, should have been ejected.
In the third, Nowitzki drove to the basket and was fouled hard but not flagrantly by Thomas. But the Kings player waved his arms in the follow-through. In effect it made it appear as if he had flagrantly fouled Nowitzki. Both fouls were called flagrant of the highest order. That's like saying Jethro Bodine and Jethro Tull were one and the same.
Peja enjoys his own throwback night
He is 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and scores a season-best 38 points as the Kings avoid a season sweep by the Mavs.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, March 25, 2005
Kings forward Peja Stojakovic, driving against Dallas' Alan Henderson, shot 69 percent from the field Thursday night.
Peja Stojakovic kept saying his game was going to come together.
Thursday night, he proved himself right with a season-and game-high 38 points during a 109-101 Kings victory over the Dallas Mavericks before a sellout crowd of 17,317 at Arco Arena Thursday night.
"I kept telling you guys that I had to play my way through the struggles," Stojakovic said. "What else could I do? Sit at home? I had to get back into shape, stay on the court and keep working."
For one of the NBA's most proficient shooters, Stojakovic might have had the most efficient scoring night of his seven-year career. He scored his 38 points on 9 of 13 field-goal attempts (6 of 8 from three-point range) and by making all 14 of his free-throw tries.
As that sharpshooter from French Lick, Ind., former Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird might say, if that's not his best, it's pretty dad-gum good.
Kings coach Rick Adelman was happy to see Stojakovic grab six of his team-high nine rebounds during the first quarter.
"(Peja) was very, very aggressive from the beginning," Adelman said. It was the second game this season Stojakovic has led the team in scoring and rebounding. "He got three or four of those rebounds early, and he was pursuing the ball, not just standing there. That shows he was aggressive."
And the Kings (43-27) needed all of that aggression because the Mavericks (45-23) seemed on their way to their fourth victory in as many meetings at halftime following a 40-point second quarter that gave them a 58-51 advantage.
"We held them to 18 points in the first quarter," Adelman said, "then they got 40 in the second, and so many of them were unnecessary. They got six in like the last (1:21 of the half) because of mental mistakes. But we played a lot harder and smarter in the second half and made them take shots under pressure."
The Mavericks scored just 43 second-half points combined, in part, because Darius Songaila came off the bench to help limit Dirk Nowitzki to three-of-nine field-goal shooting in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki still finished with a team-high 35 points, but the Mavs were just nine of 28 from the field in the fourth and 15 of 45 in the second half.
"The main thing is helping each other," said Kings guard Mike Bibby in a familiar refrain. "A lot of (their) points were off us hugging (staying with) our man and them getting to the basket for a wide-open shot. We tried to cut that out in the second half."
The players on each side of the court did a far more competent job than did the officiating crew of Jack Nies, David Jones and Mark Ayotte. Although their work was terribly inconsistent all evening the most egregious situation occurred on two flagrant foul calls to Nowitzki and Kings forward Kenny Thomas.
Nowitzki committed his from behind on a breakaway scoring attempt by Thomas in the second quarter and made no play on the ball. The Dallas forward swung his right arm down hard over both arms of Thomas and drove him into the floor. That was a legitimate flagrant foul. The only question was whether or not Nowitzki, who somehow protested the call, should have been ejected.
In the third, Nowitzki drove to the basket and was fouled hard but not flagrantly by Thomas. But the Kings player waved his arms in the follow-through. In effect it made it appear as if he had flagrantly fouled Nowitzki. Both fouls were called flagrant of the highest order. That's like saying Jethro Bodine and Jethro Tull were one and the same.
Last edited:
