Sacramento 94, Indiana 92
Kings Outlast Pacers in a Dandy
INDIANAPOLIS, March 19 (Ticker) -- The Sacramento Kings needed a win in a
bad way and Mike Bibby made sure they got it.
Bibby scored 25 points, including a 19-footer from the left wing with 1.2
seconds remaining that gave the Kings a 94-92 victory over the Indiana
Pacers in a thrilling matchup of the NBA's best teams.
The fourth quarter saw seven ties and five lead changes, with neither team
leading by more than three points. Bibby and Peja Stojakovic s cored six
points apiece in that final period to keep the Kings -- who had lost two
straight -- within striking distance.
Pacers All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal scored seven of his 23 points in
the final 4 minutes. His two free throws with 24 seconds left tied it,
92-92. But this was a game in which whoever had the ball last was going
to win, and that was the Kings.
"We knew we had the last shot, because they had no timeouts left," said
Bibby, who made 9-of-16 from the floor. "It was designed for me. If I
didn't have anything, I was supposed to make something happen. We were
happy to come out of here with a win."
"He made a great individual play," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "In
that situation, he's one of the best shot-makers in the game. If you leave
the game to chance against a great team like Sacramento, you're going to
be in trouble."
Sacramento (50-19) swept the season series from Indiana (50-18) for the
second straight season and ended Indiana's nine-game winning streak against
Western Conference teams.
Carlisle was disappointed in the way his team played in the second half,
particularly the third quarter.
"That was a disappointing way to lose at home," he said. "Our energy just
dropped in the third quarter, and that can't happen. This was a learning
experience for us. We're going to have games like this in the playoffs."
The Pacers played without All-Star forward Ron Artest, who served a one-
game league suspension for a flagrant elbow on Portland's Derek Anderson.
The bench rose to the occasion, getting 15 points in 16 minutes from
Jonathan Bender and 11 in 11 from Austin Croshere.
In the teams' first meeting, Artest was ejected and missed the second half.
"We've gotten a break the whole year," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "He
got thrown out in Sacramento and he didn't play tonight. ... It makes a
huge difference. We haven't been playing well, so it feels good to win."
The Kings never trailed after taking a 90-88 lead with 47 seconds left on
a 3-pointer by Doug Christie, who had missed six straight shots. O'Neal
answered with a lane jumper to tie it nine seconds later.
Chris Webber and O'Neal traded a pair of free throws each, setting up
Sacramento's last possession.
"It's always disappointing when you lose," O'Neal said. "When you give a
team like this an oppourtunity to make a shot at the end of the game, a
team with so many weapons, they're going to hit the shot."
Webber had 24 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists before fouling out for
the Kings. Stojakovic scored 17 points and former Pacer Brad Miller had 12
and 13 rebounds.
It looked like Indiana was going to run away early, scoring 35 points in
the opening quarter and leading by as many as 17 in the first half. But
the Kings used an 18-6 run to take a 73-72 lead early in the final period.
http://www.nba.com/games/20040319/SACIND/recap.html
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作者: lsdou (Crazy Nick) 看板: Kings
標題: Recap Bibby hits jumper for win
時間: Sat Mar 20 15:42:36 2004
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Mike Bibby showed the Indiana Pacers that the West
is still the best.
Bibby hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc with 1.2 seconds left
to lift the Sacramento Kings to a 94-92 victory over Indiana on Friday night
in a matchup of NBA conference leaders.
Jermaine O'Neal hit two free throws to tie it at 92 with 24.7 seconds left.
Chris Webber committed his sixth foul on the play, but Bibby made sure the
Kings didn't endure their first three-game losing streak in more than a year.
"I just wanted to make something happen," Bibby said.
He certainly did.
Bibby dribbled the length of the floor, shook Jamaal Tinsley and came off
a screen to knock down the game winner.
Bibby scored 25 points and Chris Webber added 24 points and 16 rebounds for
the Kings (50-19), who overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to move within
one game of the Pacers (50-18) in the race for league's best record and
homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
O'Neal had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who were playing
without second-leading scorer Ron Artest.
Artest was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA on Friday for
elbowing Portland's Derek Anderson.
Artest hit Anderson in the face during Indiana's 80-71 victory Wednesday
night. No foul was called on the play.
"Certainly his absence isn't the reason we lost," Pacers coach Rick
Carlisle said. "It was really a matter of keeping a certain level of
aggression, which we just did not do."
Still, the Pacers sorely missed Artest's perimeter defense and scoring
against the Kings. After a sparkling first half, the Pacers were just 10-for
-39 in the second half and couldn't come up with defensive stops down the
stretch.
"Obviously it's a huge difference," Kings coach Rick Adelman said about
Artest's absence. "He guards Peja (Stojakovic), he gives them their second
scorer. It was a break for us."
Austin Croshere's two free throws gave Indiana a 41-24 two minutes into
the second quarter, but the Pacers shot 21 percent in the third quarter to
let Sacramento back in the game.
"When you get off to great starts, you can't have a letup and tonight we
did and it cost us the game," Carlisle said.
Stojakovic, who had 17 points and six rebounds, hit a jumper with 11:17
to play that gave the Kings their first lead, 73-72.
That set up a thrilling final period that featured seven ties and five lead
changes.
Doug Christie hit a 3-pointer with 47.7 seconds left to give Sacramento a
90-88 lead.
O'Neal came right back with a spinning drive in the lane to tie the game
and Webber and O'Neal traded free throws to knot the score at 92 with 24.7 to
play before Bibby's big shot.
"In that situation, he's one of the best shot makers we have in our game,"
Carlisle said of Bibby. "Unfortunately, 24 uninspired minutes led to that
moment."
Indiana dominated the first half, beating the Kings down the floor and
beating them up in the paint. The Pacers outscored Sacramento 14-2 in fast
break points and 28-12 in the paint in the half.
O'Neal started the first quarter with six points in the first four minutes
to help the Pacers take a 14-4 lead.
Jonathan Bender closed the quarter with 11 points in the final three
minutes and the Pacers were off and running.
They shot 54 percent in the first half to take a 58-47 lead, but the Kings
methodically began chipping away in the third quarter.
Sacramento outscored Indiana 24-14 in the third and then came up with all
the big plays to bounce back from two ugly losses to New Jersey and Washington.
"We've done that all year -- lose big leads," said Jeff Foster, who had 10
points and 12 rebounds. "We should be able to win and enjoy these games, but
we're not."
Bender finished with 15 points, but missed most of the second half with a
right shoulder injury. His status for Saturday's game at Memphis was not
immediately known.
Game notes
Adelman got a technical foul at 7:44 of the 2nd for arguing a foul call. ...
Adelman became Sacramento's all-time winningest coach. His 296 career wins
moved him ahead of Les Harrison. ... The Kings have not lost three in a row
since Jan. 24-28, 2003.
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