Sacremento review of Friday Night

[Dave Wickerham <wickerhd@govt.co.saratoga.ny.us>]

Nice to see a good team from the west give the Celtics a little credit. 
While Webber was hurting, the Kings say they played well enough to win,
and that the Celtics just beat them.

****dave




>                                      *
>                              THE SACRAMENTO BEE
> 
>    * * * His ill will not enough: Webber plays with flu; Kings lack
>    antidote for Celtics
>
>
>    By Mike Triplett
>    Bee Staff Writer
>    (Published Jan. 8, 2000)
>    BOSTON -- With 43 seconds left and the Kings trailing by six points,
>    Chris Webber drove toward the basket, took to the air and watched his
>    six-foot jumper glance off the rim as he crashed to the ground, giving
>    a whole new meaning to the concept of "leaving it all on the floor."
> 
>    Had the Kings managed to beat the Boston Celtics on Friday night, one
>    would be hard-pressed to deny this was Webber's finest performance of
>    the season. Battling the flu, he didn't eat all day, became sick at
>    halftime, then left for the locker room to receive fluids and lie down
>    during the third quarter.
> 
>    When he returned in the fourth, he looked like Willis Reed marching
>    back in to rescue the troops.
> 
>    "But Mr. Pierce kept hitting those jumpers," said a physically and
>    emotionally drained Webber, who wasn't about to accept any kudos after
>    Boston beat the Kings 101-93 at the Fleet Center behind Paul Pierce's
>    5-for-7 fourth-quarter performance.
> 
>    "I just wanted to keep playing," said Webber, who was not expected to
>    return in the fourth but did and finished with his 20th double double
>    of the season (21 points and 11 rebounds). "You feel bad when your
>    team is down and you're not a part of it. You always feel like you're
>    not giving it your all. Guys tell you it's OK, and if somebody else
>    was sick, I know I would tell them to sit down and relax and get ready
>    for Sunday, but all that doesn't really make sense when you're going
>    through it."
> 
>    Webber, who was low on energy all afternoon, started the evening fast
>    with eight points, five rebounds, three blocks and three assists in
>    the first quarter. But it was his four tough rebounds and seven points
>    in the fourth quarter that were the most remarkable. He looked
>    exasperated every time a timeout was called, as if he would much
>    rather be running and jumping than sitting on the bench and letting it
>    all catch up with him.
> 
>    "I couldn't believe he was in there in the fourth quarter," Kings
>    coach Rick Adelman said. "He's been such a rock for us all season."
> 
>    But not enough against a Celtics team that continued to turn up the
>    tempo with every Kings rally. The dagger came as the shot-clock buzzer
>    sounded with 3:42 remaining and Pierce's off-balance, 14-foot jumper
>    sailed over a sea of hands and right through the net, giving the
>    Celtics a nine-point lead and squashing the Kings' 5-0 mini-rally.
> 
>    "He made a few shots with my hand right in his face, and he was
>    twisting in the air," the Kings' Nick Anderson said of Pierce, who
>    finished with a team-high 19 points. "He kept hitting big shots when
>    they needed it."
> 
>    Said Adelman: "We gave a very good effort tonight, had a lot of energy
>    and made three or four comebacks, but on the road, you can't keep
>    doing that."
> 
>    Unlike the Kings' previous two efforts on their three-game road trip,
>    they came out smoking and led by as many as seven in the first
>    quarter. But as has been their M.O. on the road, they dug a 14-point
>    hole for themselves before halftime and had to play catch-up the rest
>    of the way.
> 
>    And catch up they did, with strong performances from Anderson, who
>    made 6 of 11 three-pointers, and Vlade Divac, who had eight points, a
>    steal, a block, an assist and two rebounds during Webber's
>    seven-minute absence, when the Kings went on an inspired 15-3 run.
> 
>    But those big Boston shots kept coming -- a 22-foot jumper by Dana
>    Barros, a drive by Vitaly Potapenko, a three-pointer by Barros, a
>    jumper by Pierce -- and the Kings never came closer than two points.
> 
>    "What can you say?" Webber asked. "You have to give them credit for
>    taking it from us."
> 
>    * *
>    *
>    Problems? Suggestions? [10]Let us hear from you.   |   Copyright © The
>    Sacramento Bee
>