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Tuesday, Mar. 27 10:30pm ET
Kings' stars deliver crucial victory

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – At halftime, the Sacramento Kings entered their locker room in a self-loathing rage. They kicked chairs, threw water cups and cursed themselves after a dismal performance against the New York Knicks.

Coach Rick Adelman calmed his team's nerves – and set the Kings on course to a gritty, dramatic victory – with one simple thought.

"He said, 'Guys, this isn't us,' " said Predrag Stojakovic, who scored 12 of his 29 points in overtime as the Kings beat the Knicks 124-117 Tuesday night.

"We realized we were maybe trying too hard and beating ourselves like we did (Sunday) against the Lakers. We didn't want to feel like that again."

Chris Webber had 39 points and 15 rebounds for the Kings, who exploded out of the locker room and erased an 18-point first-half deficit.

Kurt Thomas hit a desperate 3-pointer to force overtime, but Sacramento ran away from the Knicks shortly thereafter.

Two days after a demoralizing 84-72 loss to the Lakers, Sacramento rallied for an emotional win. It's the kind of mental swing that could make or break a team's season – and the Kings, the league's best offensive team, prevailed against the NBA's toughest defense.

"Everybody thinks the sky is falling because we lost to the Lakers," Webber said. "They say we can't shoot, that we can't do it anymore. We wanted to prove everybody wrong."

Sacramento increased its lead to a full game over the Lakers in the Pacific Division, and the Kings moved past Utah into second place in the Western Conference, two games behind San Antonio. Sacramento matched the Spurs for the league's best home record at 29-6.

While the Kings found themselves by mostly dominating in the second half and overtime, New York lost its usual identity. Against Sacramento's offensive onslaught, the normally defense-minded Knicks sometimes looked helpless while giving up 18 more points than they had allowed in any game this season.

The game's flow was eerily similar to New York's overtime win at Golden State on Monday night at the start of their critical five-game road trip. Once again, the Knicks built a big first-half lead – 20 points in Oakland and 18 points in Sacramento – but allowed the Kings to chip away throughout the game.

"We came out here with the goal to not beat ourselves anymore, (but) we almost did that last night and I thought we did that tonight," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Our defense as a whole was not good. You're not going to give up 77 points in 29 minutes and hope to win."

But Thomas, who had a season-high 23 points, shot them into overtime with a dramatic 3-pointer – just the second of his career – with six seconds left in regulation.

The Knicks' magic didn't last in the extra period at a deafening Arco Arena. Stojakovic made all four of his shots, including a 3-pointer with 1:39 left, and added three free throws in the final 28 seconds.

Jason Williams, who had 16 points and eight assists, hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in regulation and took a charge from Mark Jackson seven seconds later that appeared to sew up the win for the Kings.

But Doug Christie, who had 17 points, made an ill-advised pass out of a double-team. After two passes, the ball ended up in the corner for Thomas, who buried his first 3-pointer in three tries this season.

"I don't get the opportunity to shoot a lot of them," Thomas said. "This was one of the best looks I've had of my nine or 10 attempts. I just wanted to make sure I didn't shoot it flat."

Glen Rice had 22 points, while Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell added 21 apiece for the Knicks.

One night after Rice hit a 3-pointer from in front of the Golden State Warriors' bench to force overtime, Thomas did the same from nearly the same spot on the floor. But while the Knicks held Golden State to one field goal in that extra period, the Kings ran away.

The Knicks, who have the league's second-worst offense, couldn't be stopped in the first half. New York shot 56 percent and scored 64 points – just 24 shy of their per-game average this season.

The Kings turned it around in the third quarter, which they began on a 30-10 run in a 10-minute stretch.

Game notes
During the second quarter, Webber passed the 10,000-point mark for his career. ... Former "Dallas" star Larry Hagman watched the game from courtside. ... The Knicks hit their first 17 free throws. Marcus Camby's two misses with 10:57 to play were New York's first miscues. ... Larry Johnson, in his second game back from a lower back injury, was ejected less than seven minutes in. He cursed at referee Jack Nies after a foul call, and Nies responded with two quick technicals.

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RECAPS
Indiana 110
Washington 102

Boston 115
Atlanta 112

Toronto 101
Miami 92

Houston 109
Utah 86

San Antonio 93
Charlotte 79

LA Clippers 101
Detroit 94

Sacramento 124
New York 117


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