LMM
Starter
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12078013p-12948126c.html
Peja missing as Kings win in OT
Webber carries the load; Stojakovic scores just six
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Chris Webber had team highs of 13 rebounds and 32 points, including eight in overtime, as the Kings won 113-107.
This one had everything, almost too much of everything for the Kings.
Sacramento battled through Portland's dynamic little-guard combination of Nick Van Exel and Damon Stoudamire, Peja Stojakovic's offensive struggles and its inability to rebound.
Still, the Kings managed a 113-107 overtime victory over the injury-depleted Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, thanks to a balanced offensive attack led by Chris Webber's game-high 32 points and team-wide clutch play down the stretch at Arco Arena.
Webber scored 26 of his 32 points in the second half and in overtime and consistently kept the Kings in the contest with clutch 20-footers and hoops around the basket.
That's not to mention a newfound free-throw shooting stroke. He made all eight attempts from the line against Portland and has made 44 of his past 48 attempts.
On the other side of the ledger was Stojakovic, who had to deal with foul trouble as well as Ruben Patterson. Stojakovic scored only six points, although his driving basket with 1:24 left in overtime was the game-winning bucket.
Cuttino Mobley hit a huge three-pointer in overtime to give the Kings a lead, but Portland never went away because of its 24 offensive rebounds and the lethal guard tandem which Kings coach Rick Adelman said his team did not defend correctly until late in the second half.
"You really have to have concentration all the time on those two guards, and we didn't do it in the first half," Adelman said. "We gave Nick 18 points (in the first half) and I think he got 12 without even doing anything because his guy wasn't even staying with him.
"That's all we talked about was staying with those two guards and never giving them shots because they are really good at finding each other."
The victory was Sacramento's fifth straight, the third of that length or longer this season.
Sacramento evened its record at 2-2 this season in overtime games, this one pushed an extra five minutes when Van Exel made Portland's four-shot possession a charm with a three-pointer directly in front of the Kings bench with 8.6 seconds left in regulation.
The fourth possession came up when center Theo Ratliff missed his second straight free-throw attempt, but Patterson came up with the rebound.
"They were so close I could have blocked some of their shots," Adelman said of Van Exel and Stoudamire, who combined to make seven three-pointers.
If it seems as if Van Exel has spent much of his NBA career tormenting the Kings, it's because he has. But Portland coach Maurice Cheeks is playing these days with a weakened posse. Forwards Darius Miles, Zach Randolph and Shareef Abdur-Rahim all have been sidelined with injuries, and that led the coach to start Joel Przybilla and Ratliff at center and power forward together for the first time this season.
Przybilla responded with career highs in points (17) and rebounds (22) against a Kings frontline that allowed one or the other to Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman in each of the two previous games.
But the Kings received contributions from Darius Songaila (eight points), whose hustle and fight against Patterson was huge in the fourth quarter.
Maurice Evans - now the Band-Aid Man after adding one to his face to go along with one on his scalp - had the dunk of the night. But he appeared to slam the ball through hard enough to cut his face as it came through the nets. Evans added 12 points and five rebounds, while Kevin Martin scored five points in eight fourth-quarter minutes and combined with Webber, Mobley and Songaila to give Sacramento its most athletic look of the night against an athletic team.
Peja missing as Kings win in OT
Webber carries the load; Stojakovic scores just six
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Chris Webber had team highs of 13 rebounds and 32 points, including eight in overtime, as the Kings won 113-107.
This one had everything, almost too much of everything for the Kings.
Sacramento battled through Portland's dynamic little-guard combination of Nick Van Exel and Damon Stoudamire, Peja Stojakovic's offensive struggles and its inability to rebound.
Still, the Kings managed a 113-107 overtime victory over the injury-depleted Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, thanks to a balanced offensive attack led by Chris Webber's game-high 32 points and team-wide clutch play down the stretch at Arco Arena.
Webber scored 26 of his 32 points in the second half and in overtime and consistently kept the Kings in the contest with clutch 20-footers and hoops around the basket.
That's not to mention a newfound free-throw shooting stroke. He made all eight attempts from the line against Portland and has made 44 of his past 48 attempts.
On the other side of the ledger was Stojakovic, who had to deal with foul trouble as well as Ruben Patterson. Stojakovic scored only six points, although his driving basket with 1:24 left in overtime was the game-winning bucket.
Cuttino Mobley hit a huge three-pointer in overtime to give the Kings a lead, but Portland never went away because of its 24 offensive rebounds and the lethal guard tandem which Kings coach Rick Adelman said his team did not defend correctly until late in the second half.
"You really have to have concentration all the time on those two guards, and we didn't do it in the first half," Adelman said. "We gave Nick 18 points (in the first half) and I think he got 12 without even doing anything because his guy wasn't even staying with him.
"That's all we talked about was staying with those two guards and never giving them shots because they are really good at finding each other."
The victory was Sacramento's fifth straight, the third of that length or longer this season.
Sacramento evened its record at 2-2 this season in overtime games, this one pushed an extra five minutes when Van Exel made Portland's four-shot possession a charm with a three-pointer directly in front of the Kings bench with 8.6 seconds left in regulation.
The fourth possession came up when center Theo Ratliff missed his second straight free-throw attempt, but Patterson came up with the rebound.
"They were so close I could have blocked some of their shots," Adelman said of Van Exel and Stoudamire, who combined to make seven three-pointers.
If it seems as if Van Exel has spent much of his NBA career tormenting the Kings, it's because he has. But Portland coach Maurice Cheeks is playing these days with a weakened posse. Forwards Darius Miles, Zach Randolph and Shareef Abdur-Rahim all have been sidelined with injuries, and that led the coach to start Joel Przybilla and Ratliff at center and power forward together for the first time this season.
Przybilla responded with career highs in points (17) and rebounds (22) against a Kings frontline that allowed one or the other to Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman in each of the two previous games.
But the Kings received contributions from Darius Songaila (eight points), whose hustle and fight against Patterson was huge in the fourth quarter.
Maurice Evans - now the Band-Aid Man after adding one to his face to go along with one on his scalp - had the dunk of the night. But he appeared to slam the ball through hard enough to cut his face as it came through the nets. Evans added 12 points and five rebounds, while Kevin Martin scored five points in eight fourth-quarter minutes and combined with Webber, Mobley and Songaila to give Sacramento its most athletic look of the night against an athletic team.
