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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
TOKYO (AP) -- It didn't take Nick Anderson long to find a niche with the Sacramento Kings.
The newly acquired forward hit five of seven 3-pointers to lead
the Sacramento Kings to a 100-95 season-opening victory over the
Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
|  | | Jason Williams had 15 points and six assists for the Kings. |
"It was a good, solid win -- the kind of start we want to get,"
Anderson said after the first of two sold-out games at the Tokyo
Dome. The second game will be played at the dome on Sunday.
Anderson finished with 17 points and Chris Webber had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves with 34 points and 17 rebounds.
"I just want to come in and play solid basketball, and I want
to enjoy what I'm doing," Anderson said. "It's a collective
effort."
Three-pointers by Garnett and Anthony Peeler cut Minnesota's deficit to 92-88 with 1:29 remaining, and Peeler's 3-pointer cut it
to 96-95 with 43 seconds to go.
Jason Williams and Predrag Stojakovic countered with two free
throws apiece in the final seconds to keep the Timberwolves at bay.
Williams got the Kings off to a flashy start in the NBA's fifth
season-opening game in Tokyo, throwing a fullcourt pass and
launching two 3-pointers -- one good, the other a miss -- in the
opening seconds. Garnett began finding the range himself and helped
Minnesota to a 29-28 lead at the end of the first quarter.
"We shot the ball terribly," Garnett said. "We'll be a
different team tomorrow for sure. What we lacked was focus."
The Kings, taking advantage of Minnesota's 8-of-23 shooting in
the second quarter, built a 54-46 lead by halftime.
Anderson, acquired from Orlando in August, sparked the Kings in
the third quarter with three straight 3-pointers and also grabbed
four rebounds. Minnesota's Terrell Brandon added 10 points in the quarter and the Kings led only 78-76 heading into the final 12
minutes. But a 12-4 run that included a 3-pointer by Stojakovic
gave Sacramento an advantage it held thereafter.
Because of the popularity of the series, the game was moved from
smaller quarters into the Tokyo Dome. The game drew a sellout crowd
of 32,623.
"The fact that the league picked us to come shows that people
like to watch us play," said Kings' coach Rick Adelman. "There
are a lot of expectations."
This is the fifth year the NBA has held season opening games in
Japan. The first Japan Games series was between the Pheonix Suns
and Utah Jazz in 1990. Because of their popularity with the
Japanese fans, the games were moved to the Tokyo Dome from a
smaller venue in 1996.
Game notes
The Kings were chosen as the home team for Saturday's
game. The Timberwolves will be the host on Sunday. ... Though the
Tokyo Dome can seat about 60,000 for baseball games, it was
configured to hold just over 32,000 for this weekend's games. ...
True to Tokyo's reputation as one of the world's most pricey
cities, the best seats in the house went for 40,000 yen, or about
$400. Most were full.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Sacramento Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 103
Charlotte 100
Toronto 112
New Jersey 92
Cleveland 104
Orlando 99
New York 103
Detroit 91
San Antonio 95
Houston 85
Miami 105
Chicago 87
Portland 95
Denver 83
LA Clippers 91
Philadelphia 81
Sacramento 100
Minnesota 95
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