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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Chris Webber scored when it counted most.
Webber finished with 31 points, including two dunks in the final minute, to lead the Sacramento Kings to an 84-81 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
Webber shot 8-for-27 from the field and 15-for-18 from the line, including 7-for-9 in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 14 rebounds. His most important contribution was a pair of dunks in the waning seconds.
"I struggled from the field tonight," Webber said. "But a lot of that was because I got a bunch of rebounds and I put the ball up in the paint. A lot of them spun in and out. When I did get to the line, I was able to convert."
On the Kings' final basket, Doug Christie drove down the middle and fed the ball to Webber for a dunk with 16 seconds left.
"To be honest, that was a broken play," Webber said. "Doug Christie and I know each other so well. He just saw me and got the ball down to me and I was happy to get the dunk."
Christie delivered a blind pass to Webber.
"I jumped in the air to make the pass and (Kelvin) Cato hit me
and I fell to the floor," Christie said. "I couldn't see what had
happened, but I heard from the crowd."
Coach Rick Adelman couldn't believe the Kings managed only three field goals the fourth quarter on 3-for-15 shooting.
"It's really hard to figure out how we can score 31 points in
the first quarter and 32 points the whole second half," Adelman
said. "I thought Houston picked up their aggressiveness. At the
end of the game, we picked up our defense and we forced them to
take tough shots.
"Doug Christie made two great plays at the end to get the ball to Webber. That was the whole game right there."
Houston, which did not receive scoring from its bench for the first time in franchise history, received double-figure scoring from all five starters and outscored the Kings 40-32 in the second half.
"It was another good defensive effort by us in the second half," coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "I'm very happy with the way our guys played. We didn't give up.
"This was two good teams playing. In a couple of years, it's going to turn around for us."
Steve Francis had 23 points, including 14 in the second half.
"We missed a lot of easy shots, clutch shots," Francis said. "I thought we played well enough to win but we missed some big shots at the end. It kind of hurts when you come back against a good team like that."
Vlade Divac and Predrag Stojakovic each had 18 points for the Kings who beat the Rockets for the third straight time this season.
Webber had 14 rebounds and Divac 13.
Shandon Anderson added 16 points, Kenny Thomas had 15, Maurice Taylor 14 and Mobley 13 for the Rockets.
Divac scored six points and Sacramento raced to an 8-0 lead 3:32 into the game. Houston missed its first six shots and had a turnover in that span.
The Rockets closed within three, 14-11, on Francis' 3-pointer at 5:19.
But Stojakovic began to hit from outside and helped the Kings to their biggest lead of the quarter, 29-20, with 58 seconds remaining. Divac scored 11 and Stojacovik and Webber each had eight as the Kings opened up a 31-23 lead at the end of the first.
In the second, Sacramento went on a 9-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Jon Barry at 7:23 for a 42-27 lead. The Rockets countered with a 10-2 spurt and closed within 44-37 with 4:16 left in the first half.
Stojacovik scored 16 in the first half as the Kings carried a 52-41 lead into the break. Webber had 14 points and five rebounds, and Divac 11 and six at that point.
Sacramento led 69-61 at the end of the third period.
Houston got within two points, 69-67, with 10:07 remaining and used an 11-3 run for their first lead, 78-77 with 2:03 remaining as the Kings missed 12 of their first 13 shots in the fourth period.
Game notes
The Rockets are the only team in the league that is above
.500 on the road and below .500 at home ... Houston, Dallas and
Portland are the only teams in the top 10 in the league rankings in
field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point
percentage. ... Sacramento is 15-3 when scoring 100 or more points.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Sacramento Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Phoenix 103
Dallas 86
New York 91
Portland 78
Atlanta 108
LA Clippers 88
Indiana 87
Miami 71
Orlando 111
Golden State 94
Philadelphia 100
San Antonio 83
Sacramento 84
Houston 81
Milwaukee 115
New Jersey 81
Utah 111
LA Lakers 103
Vancouver 119
Cleveland 107
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Rudy Tomjanovich Official Site
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