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Sunday, Jan. 9 9:00pm ET
Kings complete Pacers' lost weekend | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- From swishing a 3-pointer to slamming a backward dunk after a 180-degree spin, Chris Webber showed off his offensive repertoire as the Sacramento Kings completed a lost weekend for the Indiana Pacers. Webber had 31 points on 15-of-26 shooting and Nick Anderson added a season-high 25 points as the Kings defeated the Pacers 116-113 Sunday night. Webber has averaged 29 points in his last eight games since missing two with a strained neck. Anderson had been struggling from the field until scoring 24 points in a loss at Boston on Friday night. Anderson hit all four of his 3-pointers against the Pacers, and added some tough defense on Reggie Miller _ who was held to six points in the second half after scoring 13 in the opening two periods. "When you go through a shooting slump, it's so easy to not play defense or to be lazy," Webber said. "But Nick has been playing great defense against every guard he's been playing." Austin Croshere had a career-high 22 points and Travis Best added 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Indiana. The Pacers, with the best record in the Eastern Conference, had a seven-game winning streak when they arrived in California on Saturday. But they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers that night, and never led after the first 41 seconds of Sunday's game. The Pacers wrapped up a four-day trip that began with a win at Denver on Thursday night. "You may be able to blame it on tiredness a little bit tonight, but if we're really the best team in the Eastern Conference, we need to be able to play better on a three-game road trip," Croshere said. Corliss Williamson had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Kings and Vlade Divac, playing his first home game since shaving his mustache and beard, added 16 points. Jason Williams had 15 assists. Williams has been struggling on offense, and he scored just six points against the Pacers, but coach Rick Adelman said the second-year guard is becoming better at learning when to avoid forcing shots. "When you get 15 assists and just three turnovers, you're playing a solid floor game," Adelman said. "So we left him in." The Pacers' reserves, including Croshere and Best, outscored the Kings' second stringers 59-15. Indiana starting center Rik Smits was limited to 11 minutes because of foul trouble. Leading by 11 points at halftime, the Kings extended their lead to 16 twice early in the opening minutes of the third period and led 90-77 entering the fourth quarter. Best then went on a tear, scoring seven points in 73 seconds -- including a three-point play with 5:05 remaining to pull the Pacers within 103-97. But Williamson and Divac hit shots to kill the rally. Webber had 19 points, including the 3-pointer, and the Kings shot 57 percent while taking a 65-54 halftime lead. Sacramento scored the last seven points of the half, including a 3-pointer by Anderson with 1.4 seconds left. Game notesIt was only the second loss in 19 games this season for Indiana when it has scored 100 or more points. ... Webber went 9-for-13 from the field in the first half, with many of those shots coming on jumpers of 12-15 feet. ... Best tied his season high for points. ... The Kings are 11-2 at home this season. The game began a stretch in which Sacramento plays seven of eight games at home, with the only road game at nearby Golden State. ... The Kings have scored more than 60 first-half points in four of their last 10 games, and have won all four of those games. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Indiana Clubhouse Sacramento Clubhouse RECAPS Vancouver 107 Toronto 97
Sacramento 116
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