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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The Sacramento Kings are built for
scoring, speed and style. They've decided to stick with their
strengths in the playoffs.
|  | | Suns forward Clifford Robinson, center, muscles his way through a double-team. |
With the league's most potent offense in devastating form, Peja Stojakovic
scored 22 points and Jason Williams had 18 as the Kings
evened their first-round playoff series with a 116-90 victory over
the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night in Game 2.
After a dismal, nervous performance during an 86-83 loss in Game
1, the Kings' coaches spent two days convincing the players to get
back to the strengths of their team, instead of allowing the Suns
to dictate the game's tempo. With all that clearly in mind,
Sacramento cruised to a blowout victory.
"There was never a doubt in my mind this team would respond,"
Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "We talked about getting back
to the way we play. All we did was try to get a flow going. If we
lose playing that way, then we're going to lose. But we're not
going to lose walking the ball up the floor."
Led by inspired play from point guards Williams and Bobby
Jackson, who made his first six shots and finished with 16 points,
the Kings jumped to a 22-point first-half lead and never let up on
the way to the franchise's biggest playoff win since April 7, 1951.
"Everybody gets open shots when we're moving the ball like
that," Jackson said. "It feels great. We were pushing the ball
and finally playing our style. We played extremely well."
Sacramento didn't even need much help from Chris Webber, who
still had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Game 3 is Sunday in Phoenix.
Seven Kings scored in double figures as Sacramento shot 57
percent in the first three quarters and made a number of
breathtaking passes to incite the Arco Arena fans, who were mostly
silent late in Sacramento's Game 1 loss, to deafening noise levels
and several second-half standing ovations.
The Kings also clamped down on the Suns, who shot 32.6 percent
and couldn't keep up. Tony Delk scored 14 points -- most well after
the game was decided -- as Phoenix headed home to America West Arena
with the chance to win the series by defending its house.
"I thought they played really loose, and once they got the
lead, shots were a lot easier," Delk said. "When it was close
Sunday, a lot of the shots they made tonight were missing. when the
pressure is not on them, sure, it's easy to make shots."
With homecourt advantage in a playoff series for the first time
since 1981, the third-seeded Kings quickly gave it away with a
series-opening loss on Sunday. Sacramento didn't pass, didn't
rebound and shot horribly while making the Suns look like
unstoppable defenders.
From the opening tip in Game 2, Sacramento was back to its
normal blend of tight passing and proficient shooting. After a
strong first quarter, the Kings made a pair of 8-0 runs in the
midst of a 25-8 surge that gave Sacramento a 22-point lead with 3 1/2
minutes left in the half.
"As a team, if you're not really sharp on the defensive end,
they'll make you pay for it," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said.
The Kings put on a show as well. One minute, Doug Christie was
making a no-look touch pass to Scot Pollard for a dunk. The next
minute, Webber embarrassed Jake Tsakilidis by passing the ball to
himself behind the befuddled rookie's back, then hitting Christie
for an open jumper.
The Kings led 95-63 after three quarters, briefly stretched the
lead to 34 points and then relaxed through the fourth.
Williams' regular season included more brushes with NBA
discipline than outstanding games, but he was spectacular in Game
2. Wearing sparkly purple sneakers for the first time this season,
Williams shot 7-for-11 and kept the Kings' offense moving while
also playing strong defense.
Williams and Jackson hit two 3-pointers apiece and went a
combined 13-for-18 from the field. Stojakovic also had an
impressive game after being held to 5-for-17 shooting by Marion in
Game 1, while Vlade Divac had 10 points and eight rebounds.
After the Kings' bumbling performance in Game 1, it was the
Suns' turn to look bad. Phoenix shot 31 percent in the first half,
missing dozens of open jumpers, and had nowhere near the same
success controlling Sacramento's crisp passing.
Marion, Cliff Robinson, Jason Kidd and Rodney Rogers combined
for 73 points in Game 1, but they shot a combined 10-for-42 on
Wednesday night. Though six Suns finished in double figures, only
Chris Dudley -- who went 1-for-1 -- shot better than 50 percent.
"We didn't play any defense, and we didn't make any shots --
that equals a blowout," Kidd said. "They had to come out and play
well, and they did."
Game notes
The Rochester Royals won the first game of the 1951 NBA
championship series 92-65 over the New York Knickerbockers. The
Royals -- who made stops in Cincinnati and Kansas City before moving
to Sacramento -- won the franchise's only NBA championship that
year. ... Kidd got an assist on each of the Suns' first five field
goals, while Sacramento made seven turnovers in the first seven
minutes. ... The Kings won't travel to Phoenix until Saturday
afternoon.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Sacramento Clubhouse
Suns-Kings Series Page
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rick Adelman was happy to see the Kings play more consistently.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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