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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Sacramento coach Rick Adelman expected the Boston Celtics to rally after getting blown out by the NBA's worst team. Instead, the Celtics were no match for one of the best.
|  | | The Celtics couldn't keep Chris Webber, center, bottled up for long. Webber amassed 30 points and 13 rebounds. |
Chris Webber had 30 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks as the Kings opened a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter and cruised to a 104-81 win Friday night.
That improved Sacramento's record to 15-6. Two days earlier, Chicago jumped to 3-19 with a 104-86 win on the same FleetCenter floor as the Celtics committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
"I was surprised about the Celtics' performance," Adelman
said. "I thought after what had happened against Chicago ...
tonight was going to be a dogfight."
Not quite.
The Celtics were booed off the court for the second straight game after hitting just 38.5 percent of their shots, losing nine steals and forcing just eight turnovers.
"We did a decent job to pass the ball for open shots," said Rick Pitino, one short of 100 victories as Boston's coach. "The confidence wasn't really high tonight. We had shots that we usually make that didn't go down."
Sacramento did bounce back in the third game of a road trip that began with losses in Atlanta and Sacramento.
Doug Christie had 19 points and five steals, while Vlade Divac
had 15 points and nine rebounds.
"It was defensive rebounding and making some stops that won
this game," Webber said. "I expected to win tonight, but not by
the margin we did."
Antoine Walker led Boston with 15 points but made just 6-of-17
shots.
"We took good shots, they just didn't fall," he said.
Paul Pierce, who missed all seven shots he took against Chicago,
was 2-for-14 Friday before heating up after the outcome was decided
and finishing with 14 points.
"I'm kind of struggling with my shot," said Pierce, Boston's
top scorer. "I put that (Chicago game) behind me. A game like
that, there's nothing you can really do about it."
The Kings, winning for only the second time in their last 19
games in Boston, used a 10-2 run to turn a 41-41 tie into a 51-43
halftime lead.
Sacramento, the NBA's second highest scoring team, stayed ahead
by at least eight the rest of the way and scored the last seven
points of the third quarter, opening a 79-61 advantage.
"We just know that offensively we have a good team," Christie said. "We played well defensively in the first half and we wanted to make sure we were giving the same effort defensively in the second half."
Walker's layup tied the game at 41 with 3:08 left in the second quarter, but the Kings went ahead to stay on Christie's 21-footer. Webber followed with two free throws, Divac hit two more and a layup, and Christie finished with two free throws.
The loss dropped Pitino's record in three-plus seasons with
Boston to 99-137. In his last three seasons at Kentucky before
taking over the Celtics, he was 97-12.
Any doubt the Celtics would come back ended early in the fourth
quarter as the Kings started it with an 11-4 run that made the
score 90-65. Boston went 8-of-26 on field goals in the quarter.
In its last five games, Boston has just one victory -- and needed
Pierce's shot at the overtime buzzer to beat Denver 104-102 last
Sunday.
Game notes
Jason Williams' fullcourt heave at the first-quarter buzzer
knocked down a court sweeper, who didn't see the ball coming as he
began to wield his broom. He was helped to his feet after about a
minute. ... On Wednesday, Boston lost to a Bulls team whose average
point differential of minus-12 is the worst in the league.
Sacramento started Friday's game with the best at plus-8.2. ...
Predraj Stojakovic, Sacramento's second leading scorer, missed his
fifth straight game with a bruised right shoulder. ...The Kings,
10-1 at home, evened their road record at 5-5.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Sacramento Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 103
Indiana 95
Dallas 112
Philadelphia 94
Charlotte 103
Washington 89
Sacramento 104
Boston 81
Utah 89
New York 58
Minnesota 99
Detroit 90
Atlanta 85
Chicago 74
Milwaukee 104
Toronto 97
LA Clippers 98
Phoenix 88
Portland 106
Orlando 96
Seattle 99
Miami 81
LA Lakers 98
Vancouver 76
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Antoine Walker Official Site
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