Webber made his season debut by scoring 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Kings established the best start in franchise history with a 95-88 victory over the Miami Heat.
"It feels so good to be back," Webber said. "I got into foul trouble in the first half and I just had to say to myself, 'Just be glad you are out on the floor.'"
from Heat-Kings: 56k | 300k  Peja Stojakovic scored 23 points on 12-of-14 free throw shooting against the Heat. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images |
Webber suffered a severely sprained right ankle in a preseason game against Dallas on Oct. 14. This was his first game since signing a seven-year, $123 million contract over the summer.
For his loyalty to the franchise that he led to their first playoff series victory in over 20 years, Webber received a thunderous ovation from the sellout crowd of 17,317.
Coach Rick Adelman could have opted to start Scot Pollard, who had averaged 6.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in 18 games. But Adelman decided otherwise.
"I see no reason why I wouldn't start him," Adelman said. "I'm not going to bring him off the bench. He needs to get into the game early. He needs to get a feel for the game. He's our best player. You've got to get him out there and get him acclimated with the other players."
Pollard approached his season averages with nine points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes as the first player off the bench.
Webber started, but slowly. He had just four points in nine minutes and picked up three fouls as Sacramento held a 56-47 lead at halftime.
While Webber was getting in sync, the usual cast of characters were leading the Kings over the Heat, who have lost 13 of their last 14 games.
Despite having his worst shooting game of the season, Peja Stojakovic finished with 23 points by making a season-high 12-of-14 from the foul line. He made just 4-of-16 shots as the Kings shot 45 percent (30-of-67).
In Webber's absence, Stojakovic had led the Kings in scoring 12 times, including 25 points in Friday's triumph over the Lakers.
Doug Christie just missed his first double-double of the season with 18 points and nine rebounds. He also made 10-of-11 foul shots.
Before that sequence, Webber had made a spectacular reverse layup around three defenders and was able to goad LaPhonso Ellis into a technical foul with 8:47 left in the third quarter.
Christie made the two foul shots and the Kings were awarded two more when Brian Grant was whistled for excessive arguing.
Webber made both free throws as the Kings took their largest lead, 67-57.
In the fourth quarter, Webber was at his best, scoring six points in 90 seconds to put away the Heat.
After Stojakovic made a wide-open jumper for an 83-76 lead with 5:53 left, Webber went to work. He made two open jumpers and hit another one with Grant in his face.
On the final jumper, he faked a pass to Stojakovic cutting to the hoop before putting the Kings up, 89-82, with 3:25 left.
"I'm glad the game I came back was against Miami, because they are real physical," Webber said. "I know they were told to come after me and make it hard for me."
While he did not establish his low-post game, Webber was awesome defensively, forcing Alonzo Mourning and Eddie Jones into costly turnovers in the final two minutes.
"It was very intense," Jones said. "We knew coming in that it was going to be a long night. They got their big guy back. And we knew they were going to come out excited. They also just beat the Lakers, so you the excitement was going to be up for them."
"We just didn't make smart plays at the end of the game," said Miami guard Jimmy Jackson. "We had a couple of turnovers. They made some shots and we didn't. To win games on the road, those are the mistakes that you have to eliminate."
In just his third game with the team, Jackson led the Heat with 17 points on 7-of-11 from the floor.