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Thursday, Mar. 22 10:30pm ET
Sacramento holds off late Detroit run

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – On a night when their ballhandling was sloppy and they were poor on the offensive boards, the Sacramento Kings still got a victory.

Chris Webber
Chris Webber, who led the Kings with 29 points, drives past Ben Wallace.

Chris Webber had 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists Thursday night as the Kings held off the Detroit Pistons in the fourth quarter for a 103-98 victory.

The win, Sacramento's eighth in 10 games, moved the first-place Kings 1 1/2 games ahead of the idle Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division. The Lakers visit Sacramento on Sunday afternoon.

Sacramento committed 20 turnovers and allowed 22 offensive rebounds but still managed to defeat the struggling Pistons for the fifth straight time.

"Sometimes we play like we're just going to turn it on when we want to turn it on," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We did just enough to hold them off and get the win."

Ahead by three points late in the low-scoring fourth quarter, Webber banked in a shot and Bobby Jackson made a short baseline jumper, extending the lead to 99-92 with 1:43 remaining.

Webber had six points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter when the Kings held a slim 18-17 edge.

"Chris made some huge shots when we needed him," Adelman said. "When he has the ball in the last five minutes of a game I'm confident he'll make the right decision."

The Pistons, who have lost five of six games, never got closer than five points in the final minute. They outscored the Kings over the final three quarters, but were outscored 30-21 in the first period.

"We went at it with what we had and pushed them to the end," Pistons forward Jerry Stackhouse said. "I don't know if it was so much what we didn't do or what they did. When they had to have a big play or a big basket they threw it to Webber and he came through and delivered for them. That summed up the game."

Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points, Jackson had 10 and Jason Williams added nine points and six assists.

Jerry Stackhouse, the league's second-leading scorer, made six 3-pointers and finished with 31 points. Chucky Atkins added four 3-point shots and scored 27 points.

Corliss Williamson had 14 points and Ben Wallace grabbed 19 rebounds and had four blocks for the Pistons, who shot 10-of-20 on 3-pointers.

"Those guys can light it up, they are a team that scores a lot of points and they were feeling it," Jackson said.

The Pistons went on a 13-2 run late in the third quarter and eventually held a two-point lead with 55 seconds remaining in the period. But Webber scored on a three-point play and Stojakovic made a 3-point shot from near halfcourt at the buzzer, giving Sacramento an 85-81 lead.

"He (Webber) got going early and when a guy like that gets it going, it doesn't matter who you put in front of them, you're not going to stop him," Wallace said.

Stojakovic scored 15 points and Webber had 14, helping the Kings take a 61-56 lead into halftime.

Game notes
The Kings had 14 first-half turnovers, five each by Webber and Divac. ... Atkins made three 3-pointers and scored 14 second-quarter points. ... Williamson played his first game at Arco Arena since being traded by the Kings in the off-season. ... Stackhouse missed 20 of 29 shots, but connected on 6-of-12 3-pointers.

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RECAPS
San Antonio 115
Atlanta 101

Cleveland 109
Vancouver 95

Boston 113
New Jersey 98

Portland 101
Utah 99

Phoenix 91
Seattle 88

LA Clippers 97
Houston 92

Sacramento 103
Detroit 98


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