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Sacramento Kings 86, San Antonio Spurs 81
Sacramento, CA Jan. 2 / Wire Reports -- Even the Sacramento Kings were
starting to believe the whispers saying they couldn't beat the NBA's best teams -- until they notched a big win over the
team that usually plays them tougher than anybody.
Peja Stojakovic hit a season-high six 3-pointers, and Mike Bibby scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half of the Kings'
86-81 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.
Stojakovic scored 28 points and Chris Webber had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who snapped the Spurs' five-game
winning streak. Sacramento also avoided its first three-game home losing streak since April 2000 with a gritty
fourth-quarter performance against the Spurs, who won three of their previous four in Sacramento.
Though the Kings are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, in second place in the Pacific Division behind
surprising Phoenix, they hadn't beaten a team with a winning record since Nov. 26.
``We laughed about it after the game,'' said Webber, who also had seven assists. ``I told Brad (Miller), 'Maybe we're good
now.' ... We heard that talk, but we don't believe it. It was a good win, but it doesn't make us better than we were three
hours ago.''
Sacramento, which lost its previous two home games to Miami and Golden State, led through most of the fourth before San
Antonio tied it on Brent Barry's 3-pointer with 4:42 left. Stojakovic answered with a 3-pointer, and Miller then hit a
desperate 22-footer as the shot clock expired with 2:49 to play.
San Antonio got back within 80-78 on Tim Duncan's three-point play, but Webber hit a jumper with 1:10 left, and Manu
Ginobili missed two open 3-pointers in the final seconds.
``People talk about how we haven't done well against the better teams, but we just played well all the way,'' Kings coach
Rick Adelman said. ``(San Antonio) has just been killing people, so it was just nice to see us rise to that.''
Ginobili scored 18 points, but Tim Duncan got just six of his 14 points in the second half. Duncan, who finished with just
two points more than his season low, didn't score in the second half until eight minutes remained, too often settling for
jumpers and passing to inaccurate teammates.
``I played so badly, I felt I drug the guys into a hole,'' Duncan said. ``We didn't play our best. I got enough good looks,
(but) they just didn't go down.''
The Spurs' weak perimeter shooting was obvious, with the starting five shooting just 20-for-57. San Antonio also made just
nine of its 18 free throws.
``I thought Sac crowded (Duncan) real well,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ``They did a good job of bringing guys at
him. They mixed things up real well. ... Holding Sac to 86 points, that's tough to do. Our shooting and free throws betrayed
us.''
Rookie Kevin Martin had a season-high nine points in his most impressive game yet for the Kings, highlighted by a remarkable
behind-the-back bounce pass between Barry's legs to Darius Songaila for a layup with 8:32 to play.
``We're calling that beginner's luck,'' Martin said with a grin.
With top reserve Bobby Jackson probably lost for three more months with torn ligaments in his wrist, Adelman has been forced
to use the untested youngsters on the end of his bench. Maurice Evans has become a consistent defender and backup in the
last two weeks -- and against the Spurs, Martin was a capable, charismatic player on both ends of the court.
Martin, a first-round pick out of Western Carolina, hasn't played much this season, but Adelman gave him a season-high 22
minutes against the Spurs. He punctuated his seven points in the first half with a two-handed dunk in traffic with 1.3
seconds left.
He was just as good in the second half, stunning fans with his pass through Barry's legs. Most of the Sacramento crowd
couldn't believe its eyes until the replay was shown on the overhead scoreboard, causing raucous cheers.
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