GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: SACRAMENTO (9-14) at NEW JERSEY (10-14)

NBA: SACRAMENTO at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">SACRAMENTO (106)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
B Udrih 29:05 0-8 0-0 1-1 8 2 0
J Salmons 43:24 13-18 3-5 2-4 7 5 31
M Moore 32:25 2-6 0-0 2-5 0 4 4
R Artest 39:16 6-15 4-4 1-4 3 0 20
B Miller 39:17 7-13 7-8 0-10 2 3 23
F Garcia 26:11 6-12 7-7 0-0 0 3 24
D Jones 14:37 1-4 2-4 1-6 1 3 4
Q Douby 10:04 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
K Thomas 3:46 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
S Hawes 1:55 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
K Martin DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J Williams DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 35-77 23-28 7-31 23 20 106
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.455, FT-.821. 3-Point Goals:
13-21, .619 (B Udrih 0-2, J Salmons 2-3, R
Artest 4-5, B Miller 2-3, F Garcia 5-8). Team
Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots:5 (R Artest 2, M
Moore, D Jones, Q Douby). Turnovers:14 (R
Artest 3, F Garcia 3, B Miller 2, M Moore 2,
J Salmons 2, Q Douby, B Udrih). Steals: 9 (J
Salmons 3, M Moore 2, B Miller, Q Douby, D
Jones, R Artest).


NEW JERSEY (101)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
J Kidd 37:56 5-12 0-0 2-10 9 0 11
V Carter 36:50 5-12 4-5 2-6 7 5 15
S Williams 42:18 4-10 3-4 2-7 1 4 11
R Jefferson 38:33 12-19 11-11 2-9 3 4 36
J Boone 30:58 2-4 1-6 2-4 5 1 5
A Wright 28:35 6-10 0-0 1-3 1 4 13
M Allen 14:43 5-6 0-0 1-4 1 2 10
D Armstrong 5:51 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
M Williams 4:16 0-3 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
J Magloire DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J Collins DNP - COACH'S DECISION
B Nachbar DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 39-77 19-26 13-45 27 20 101
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.506, FT-.731. 3-Point Goals:
4-15, .267 (J Kidd 1-5, V Carter 1-3, R
Jefferson 1-2, A Wright 1-3, D Armstrong 0-1,
M Williams 0-1). Team Rebounds: 11. Blocked
Shots:9 (S Williams 8, V Carter).
Turnovers:20 (R Jefferson 6, J Kidd 5, V
Carter 3, J Boone 2, S Williams 2, D
Armstrong, A Wright). Steals: 7 (J Kidd 2, S
Williams 2, R Jefferson, M Allen, J Boone).

--------------------------------------------
SACRAMENTO 28 24 25 29 - 106
NEW JERSEY 25 25 28 23 - 101
--------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: Sacramento - 1 (Defensive
Three, 9:49 2nd). New Jersey - 1 (Defensive
Three, 3:49 1st).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 11,902. T: 2:21.
Officials: Matt Boland, Rodney Mott, Scott
Foster.</div>

 

By Joe Rizzo
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - Francisco Garcia'sfour-point play broke a tie and John Salmons scored acareer-high 31 points to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 106-101victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

Garcia finished with 24 points, Brad Miller had 23 and 10rebounds and Ron Artest added 20 points for the Kings, whoimproved to 2-2 on their five-game road trip and 2-10 away fromhome on the season.


Sacramento finishes the trip Wednesday in Milwaukee.

The Kings were aided by torrid 3-point shooting, converting13-of-21 (62 percent) from long range, including 4-of-5 byArtest and 5-of-8 by Garcia.


Richard Jefferson had 36 points and nine rebounds for the Nets,who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games andcontinued to struggle at home, falling to 5-10 at the IzodCenter, where the attendance was an unenthusiastic 11,902.

"If anyone here asks me one more time about home-courtadvantage, I swear," Jefferson said. "When I first got here,this would have been one of the biggest crowds. We had, like,500 people in the stands and we were going to the Finals. Comeon, guys."


Jason Kidd just missed his fourth triple-double in the last sixgames, scoring 11 points to go with 10 rebounds and nineassists.


With the scored tied at 85-85, Garcia took a 3-pointer from theright angle and was fouled with 7:39 to play. He converted thefree throw to give the Kings the lead for good.


"I always like to take the shots," said Garcia, who put asidetickets for roughly 40 local friends and family. "I had a lotof people here. Of course it makes it special."


Salmons stole the ball on the ensuing possession and cruised infor a layup to extend the lead to 91-85.


The Nets whittled the lead to one point but Garcia answeredagain with a huge 3-pointer - once again off Salmons' feed - toextend the margin to 103-99 with 15 seconds to play.

"When you have guys who can draw attention, you have to get themthe ball in those spots," Kings coach Reggie Theus said.

"Exactly as planned," Garcia said. "Coach said, 'I want youright there,' and I didn't move."


Four players registered all but eight points for the shorthandedKings, who are missing leading scorer Kevin Martin, point guardMike Bibby and Shareef Abdur-Rahim due to injuries.

"We've been playing good on the road, just not winning," Artestsaid. "Without Kevin our whole identity changes a little bit.Everyone's used to each other now. When they get back we'll bea lot better. We're pretty hard to guard."


Artest scored eight straight points, including a pair of3-pointers, to give Sacramento its biggest lead at 68-59 midwaythrough the third quarter.


New Jersey answered with a 13-3 run that was capped byback-to-back layups from Jefferson to take a 72-71 lead.

The Nets managed to take a 78-77 lead into the final 12 minutesdespite 3-pointers by Artest and Miller. Sacramento hit 5-of-8shots from the arc in the period.


Looking to find some semblance of an inside game, Nets coachLawrence Frank started rookie Sean Williams and second-year manJosh Boone in the frontcourt alongside Jefferson.


Williams provided a strong defensive presence, scoring 11points, blocking eight shots and grabbing seven rebounds. Booneadded five points, five assists and four boards.


"He (Sean Williams) was phenomenal and Josh was phenomenal,too," said Vince Carter, who had 15 points, seven assists andsix rebounds for the Nets. "Their energy and activity on theglass gave us a lot of second shots and a lot of opportunities."

Salmons provided the bulk of the early offense for the Kings,scoring 18 points in the opening half on 8-of-12 shooting.

Sacramento led at the break, 52-50, after Kidd made athree-quarter-court dash through three players to beat thebuzzer.


"The same thing at halftime was the same thing at the end of thegame: 22 turnovers equated into 28 of their points," Franksaid. "They shot almost 62 percent from the three and that wasthe difference in the game."