http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12144034p-13014198c.html
Head and shoulders above the Nets
The Kings bounce back from Sunday with a season-high 55 percent shooting.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 26, 2005
There really was only one way for the Kings to go Tuesday night after Sunday's embarrassing loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Taking the bounce-back concept to a higher level, the Kings gave a dominating performance while kicking the New Jersey Nets to the curb in a 113-93 victory at Arco Arena.
Chris Webber missed his fourth game of the season, this time with a sprained right ankle suffered Sunday. But his absence was hardly felt. The Kings shot a season-high 55.4 percent from the field and held a 42-30 rebounding advantage.
Brad Miller made 11 consecutive shots en route to a 14-of-18 night and a season-high 31 points. Miller also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and was one of three Kings to post double doubles.
Cuttino Mobley, despite slightly spraining his right ankle in the third quarter, had his first double double this season with 20 points and 10 assists. He also had seven rebounds.
Mike Bibby shot well, scoring 19 points and shooting 5 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point range, to go with 10 assists. Throw in Peja Stojakovic's 25 points and 9-of-14 shooting, and there was far too much firepower for a Nets team playing without Richard Jefferson, who is out for the season because of a ruptured ligament in his left wrist.
Kings coach Rick Adelman was pleased to see his team play the way he expected.
"I feel a lot better," Adelman said after the Kings improved to 28-12 and completed a stretch of seven home games in eight with a 7-1 mark. "The guys came out and played well. They moved the ball well (32 assists, third-highest this season) and really did a good job of taking advantage of what the (Nets) gave us. Our two guards were really good at distributing the ball, and Brad had a terrific game."
Miller said he had little doubt the Kings would come back strongly from the 30-point loss to the Spurs. In that game, the Kings had just eight assists. Against New Jersey, however, they recorded seven assists in the first quarter, when they took a double-digit lead that only once fell to six and never was fewer than 10 in the second half.
"I was very certain we'd be ready to play," said Miller, whose 18 field-goal attempts were a season high. "It's not like we were a young team that got beat by 30. We've got veterans on this team, people who have experienced big losses.
"I've lost by over 50 a couple of times with the Bulls. Mike played with Vancouver. But here, you expect to win, so you don't want to let that (Spurs game) affect you. You've just got to learn from it and move on."
New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said his players now have something to learn from after losses to the Phoenix Suns and Kings to begin a five-game West Coast trip.
"Our focus was to take the shots that we wanted to take," Frank said. "We took some quick ones that led to some opportunities for them. We gave them easy buckets, but you have to give them credit."
Nets point guard Jason Kidd knows his team must play better defense. "We just didn't play any defense," said Kidd, who had eight points and seven assists. "Especially against a team like Sacramento, you can't make it easy on them."
Head and shoulders above the Nets
The Kings bounce back from Sunday with a season-high 55 percent shooting.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 26, 2005
There really was only one way for the Kings to go Tuesday night after Sunday's embarrassing loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Taking the bounce-back concept to a higher level, the Kings gave a dominating performance while kicking the New Jersey Nets to the curb in a 113-93 victory at Arco Arena.
Chris Webber missed his fourth game of the season, this time with a sprained right ankle suffered Sunday. But his absence was hardly felt. The Kings shot a season-high 55.4 percent from the field and held a 42-30 rebounding advantage.
Brad Miller made 11 consecutive shots en route to a 14-of-18 night and a season-high 31 points. Miller also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and was one of three Kings to post double doubles.
Cuttino Mobley, despite slightly spraining his right ankle in the third quarter, had his first double double this season with 20 points and 10 assists. He also had seven rebounds.
Mike Bibby shot well, scoring 19 points and shooting 5 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point range, to go with 10 assists. Throw in Peja Stojakovic's 25 points and 9-of-14 shooting, and there was far too much firepower for a Nets team playing without Richard Jefferson, who is out for the season because of a ruptured ligament in his left wrist.
Kings coach Rick Adelman was pleased to see his team play the way he expected.
"I feel a lot better," Adelman said after the Kings improved to 28-12 and completed a stretch of seven home games in eight with a 7-1 mark. "The guys came out and played well. They moved the ball well (32 assists, third-highest this season) and really did a good job of taking advantage of what the (Nets) gave us. Our two guards were really good at distributing the ball, and Brad had a terrific game."
Miller said he had little doubt the Kings would come back strongly from the 30-point loss to the Spurs. In that game, the Kings had just eight assists. Against New Jersey, however, they recorded seven assists in the first quarter, when they took a double-digit lead that only once fell to six and never was fewer than 10 in the second half.
"I was very certain we'd be ready to play," said Miller, whose 18 field-goal attempts were a season high. "It's not like we were a young team that got beat by 30. We've got veterans on this team, people who have experienced big losses.
"I've lost by over 50 a couple of times with the Bulls. Mike played with Vancouver. But here, you expect to win, so you don't want to let that (Spurs game) affect you. You've just got to learn from it and move on."
New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said his players now have something to learn from after losses to the Phoenix Suns and Kings to begin a five-game West Coast trip.
"Our focus was to take the shots that we wanted to take," Frank said. "We took some quick ones that led to some opportunities for them. We gave them easy buckets, but you have to give them credit."
Nets point guard Jason Kidd knows his team must play better defense. "We just didn't play any defense," said Kidd, who had eight points and seven assists. "Especially against a team like Sacramento, you can't make it easy on them."