Kings mauled in Grizzlies' den
J-Will, Mike Miller combine to score 52 points
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, January 24, 2004
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets
you, throws you up against the wall, mauls you, eats you and spits you out.
The Memphis Grizzlies enjoyed the Kings for dinner Friday night, handing
them a 109-95 thrashing at The Pyramid.
The Kings walked into the arena with the NBA's best record and stumbled out
looking as if they had walked into the Grizzlies' cage without a stun gun,
a stick or anything. The Kings' 92-68 deficit with 2:50 left in the fourth
quarter was their largest of the season.
Memphis (24-18) earned a split of the four-game season series and its
franchise-high seventh straight victory on the strength of more
impassioned play at each end of the court and a devastating backcourt
dominance. Simply put, the Kings' starting duo of Mike Bibby and Doug
Christie were outscored by Memphis' Jason Williams and Mike Miller 52
points to 15.
Kings leading scorer Peja Stojakovic scored 41 points the last time these
two teams met Dec. 23, 2003, and that was neither accepted well by the
Grizzlies nor forgotten by them or their fans as they headed into this
game. Stojakovic scored the final three points of that already-decided
game after being thrown to the floor by James Posey as he drove to the
basket on the Kings' final possession.
Friday night, again primarily defended by Posey, Stojakovic scored a season
-low-tying 11 points on just 5 of 13 field-goal attempts, including 0 of 2
from three-point range. It was the seventh time this season he didn't make
a three-pointer.
Stojakovic was booed every time he touched the ball and shadowed by either
Posey, Shane Battier or Dahntay Jones, and anybody else in the general
vicinity.
"We didn't want to let him get off," Grizzlies center Lorenzen Wright said.
"He killed us the last game.
"We had them down in that game, and they came back and hit a lot of threes.
They were a little worn down in the first half, and we wanted to finish
them off in the second half."
Kings coach Rick Adelman downplayed the residue of feelings from the last
meeting.
"I think they were ready to play," he said in the only real acknowledgement
of possible added motivation. "I hope that wouldn't be the only thing to
get them ready. No, I think it's more of a carryover that they've been
playing well. They definitely have a chance to make a run at the playoffs,
and they've been playing very well during the past few weeks."
However, Wright pointed out how impactful the fans' involvement can be and
how the Grizzlies didn't attempt to score during the final seconds.
"I don't think fans know how much it hurts a player to get booed like that,
" said Wright, who grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds before fouling out after
27 minutes. "But you see we showed we have class here when J-Will just
dribbled out the final seconds instead of trying to score."
Kings center Vlade Divac was the team-high scorer and rebounder with 17
points and 12 rebounds on a night when Adelman's best and certainly most
active players came off his bench. Gerald Wallace was a surprise entrant
during the second quarter and quickly impacted the game with his
athleticism and hustle.
And it was the Kings' bench that had the game close at 41-39 midway through
the second quarter before the starters re-entered the game and promptly
were outscored 21-8 to end the half.
"Sometimes things aren't going your way, and you have to change things
around," Kings guard Bobby Jackson said. "That's the way it was for us, and
we never changed. We let them take them out of our game."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/
8153092p-9084773c.html
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