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Wednesday, May 1 Updated: May 1, 3:58 PM ET Kings-Mavs series shapes up as shootout Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For perhaps the most entertaining playoff matchup this year, look no further than Dallas versus Sacramento. "It's going to be the shootout at the OK Corral," said Kings forward Chris Webber. "I'm happy this next series will not be a lot of flopping and stuff. We'll both be out there just playing ball."
Dallas led the league in scoring this year, followed closely by Sacramento. The offensive-minded Kings were the top-scoring NBA team the prior three seasons. This season, the two teams combined for 239 points in an overtime game won by the Mavericks. In their four meetings, the lowest winning total was 110 points, which occurred in Sacramento's 110-98 victory Nov. 29 in Dallas. Don Nelson-coached teams have been accused of a lack of emphasis on defense. That again appears the case with the Mavericks, who definitely think offense first. But Kings coach Rick Adelman downplays Dallas' defensive inabilities. "They have a good enough defense to beat anyone because they play such good offense," Adelman said. "Dallas can make you look bad. But they are going to need to shoot the ball well to beat us." No team has enjoyed better success against the Kings of late. Not only have the Mavericks defeated Sacramento in five of the past six meetings, they swept both games this year at Arco Arena, where the Kings had the league's best home record at 36-5. "That's weird, winning here just once is a big accomplishment, doing it twice is real tough in this building," said Dallas center Raef LaFrentz, whose team had the top road record in the regular season (27-14).
One of those Arco victories was April 14 after the Kings had already clinched the best record in the league, while Dallas was still fighting for playoff seeding. "I wasn't substituting like I normally do, I wasn't going to play anyone 40 minutes just so we could get a win," Adelman said after the game. There will be no lack of confidence by the Mavericks, who swept Minnesota in three games, while the Kings struggled to get past Utah in a four-game series. The Jazz frustrated Sacramento all series. The Kings averaged 89 points against Utah and shot 40 percent overall, missing 50 of 71 3-point attempts. "Dallas is going to be tough, they will come in here thinking they can beat us," Kings reserve guard Bobby Jackson said.
Nice prayer, Vlade
Rookie Gerald Wallace missed all seven attempts this year, and reserve point guard Mateen Cleaves went 2 for 8. But when Divac picked up a loose ball late in Game 4 against Utah with the shot clock running down, his attempt elicited more groans than approval. Divac was 3-of-13 this season from 3-point territory and had missed his only other playoff attempt. The veteran center had players jumping off the Kings bench in celebration after swishing a 27-footer. That basically finished the Jazz, who trailed 87-81 with 1:29 left in the game. Honest to a fault, Divac admitted the shot left his hand with little confidence. "I just threw it up and hoped it was going in," said Divac, who entered this season a career 24 percent 3-point shooter.
Where is Hedo?
Perhaps still bothered more by a sprained left wrist, he was a nonfactor. Turkoglu played a mere 51 minutes, scoring just 13 points. His shooting was horrible -- he missed 15 of 20 shots overall, went 1 -of-8 from 3-point range and was just 2-of-6 on free throws. Those numbers were a departure from the regular season, when Turkoglu averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
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