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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – To the Phoenix Suns, there's no sound
more beautiful than 17,317 fans not cheering.
|  | | Shawn Marion not only did it on offense (21 points), but he held Peja Stojakovic to 13 points as well. |
Shawn Marion scored 21 points and Jason Kidd had 18 points and
14 assists as Phoenix emerged from one of the NBA's toughest arenas
with an 86-83 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in the
opener of their playoff series.
The Suns won by crippling the league's highest-scoring offense
with tough defense and deliberate offensive schemes.
When Jason Williams' final shot missed and Rodney Rogers
dribbled out the clock, the Suns enjoyed the sound of silence in
Arco Arena.
"Cliff (Robinson) made a statement in the last minute when the
crowd was quiet," Marion said. "He turned to me and said, 'You
don't hear them now, do you?' We were zoning them out, anyway."
Sacramento, which has never won a playoff series since moving to
Northern California, was unprepared to play the Suns' style. The
Kings lost for just the ninth time all season at Arco Arena.
"It was their hungriness, their willingness to take on this
bully that was seeded No. 3," Chris Webber said. "I have to give
them credit for that. They had a mission, and they stayed on it."
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Sacramento.
Rogers scored 18 points and hit two big jumpers during a 10-2
Phoenix run late in the fourth quarter. The boisterous crowd was
silenced by the sixth-seeded Suns, who broke open a close game by
holding the Kings to 6-of-28 shooting in the fourth quarter.
"We had no choice but to play this way," Kidd said. "We made
it as tough as possible on them. We had to make sure they didn't
get comfortable in their style. It might have been ugly, but we
thought it was fun to watch."
Rogers' 3-pointer with 2:54 left gave Phoenix an 85-76 lead, but
the Kings scored the next seven points, pulling within 85-83 on
Doug Christie's steal and dunk. Robinson missed a jumper with 12
seconds left, but Kidd emerged from a crowd of three Kings with an
offensive rebound, then hit one of two free throws.
"All day I'd been missing some rebounds," Kidd said. "Coach
always told me to follow the ball, so I did, and it came back to
me."
After a timeout, Williams inexplicably airballed an off-balance
3-pointer with five seconds still on the clock. Rogers dribbled out
the time as the demoralized Kings didn't even foul him.
"We didn't even come close to playing our style of
basketball," Christie said. "They just had more flow than we did
from the tipoff. We have to play our style, and we will on
Wednesday."
Webber, clearly limited by his sore ankles, had 27 points and 15
rebounds as the Kings opened a playoff series at home for the first
time in two decades with a dull, disorganized performance.
Webber, Divac and Peja Stojakovic – the Kings' starting frontcourt,
which supposedly had a huge advantage on the undersized Suns – was
a combined 20-for-60 from the field. Marion, whose acrobatic
leaping ability was on full display, shot 9-for-16 and blocked more
shots (3) than Sacramento's frontcourt (0).
Meanwhile, the Suns concentrated on their defense and relied on
almost nothing except jumpers by Kidd, Rogers and Marion, who
decisively outplayed Stojakovic. Robinson added 16 points,
also mostly from the perimeter, for the Suns.
Until Phoenix's late run, neither team led by more than seven
points in a slow, deliberate game. Sacramento spent much of the
game uncharacteristically trying to get the ball to Webber in the
low post, with mostly negative results.
Webber went 12-of-32 from the field and missed at least a
half-dozen easy hook shots. He often seemed unable to jump on his
ankles, which he sprained during a late-season game in Dallas.
In front of a crowd decked out in a sea of giveaway white
T-shirts, the Kings shot 34.8 percent and struggled to score even
the simplest baskets. Webber made seven turnovers, while Divac was
held to four points on 1-of-5 shooting after halftime.
Marion's 21 points were a career playoff-high, but more
importantly, he got 10 rebounds and held Stojakovic to 13 points –
seven below his average – on 5-of-17 shooting.
"Shawn did a great job, really great," Phoenix's Mario Elie
said. "We told him to stay on Peja no matter what. We told him,
'If he goes to the bathroom, you stay on him."'
Game notes
The Suns and the Kansas City Kings met in the playoffs
three straight seasons from 1979-81, but haven't met since. ... In
time-honored Sacramento tradition, fans rang cowbells behind the
Suns' bench. ... Arco was filled with signs, from "2001: A Kings
Odyssey" to the more esoteric "Why Not Now?" ... The Kings made
their fifth postseason appearance in 16 years in Sacramento.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Sacramento Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 92
Toronto 85
Phoenix 86
Sacramento 83
LA Lakers 106
Portland 93
Milwaukee 103
Orlando 90
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sacramento's Chris Webber expects things to be different for the remainder of the series.
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Suns coach Scott Skiles comments on the excitement the playoffs bring.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Coach Rick Adelman explains Sacramento's strategy in the final minutes of their loss.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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