Webber scored a season-high 30 points to lead the Kings to their 10th straight home win, 109-94 over the Boston Celtics.
 Chris Webber was back in his All-Star form with 30 points against the Celtics. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images |
Webber finished 10-of-17 on mostly inside shots. He was a force inside with eight rebounds and 10-of-12 free throws. Sacramento was 16-7 without him and 7-2 in the nine games he's played.
After rallying for a home win over Detroit on December 18 and consecutive losses at Seattle and the Los Angeles Clippers, the Kings have jumped out to big leads in each of their last four home games.
Sacramento led 59-45 at halftime after shooting 51 percent (22-of-43) from the field.
Bobby Jackson's 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 run that stretched the advantage to 86-60 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
"We wanted to avoid the big 10-point run, of having to come back from 12 or 13, because that's when they're at their best" Celtics forward Antoine Walker said. "We dug ourselves a hole. We felt very confident that we could get back into the game, but they countered it each time with a big play."
"We did not shoot the basketball well," Boston coach Jim O'Brien added. "We wanted to get off to a good start, but it didn't happen tonight, and this is a tough team to catch up on. Teams like Sacramento, San Antonio, the Lakers -- too many weapons."
Webber also held Walker scoreless for nearly two quarters. Walker had 11 of his 24 points in the opening period but did not score again until the 1:14 mark of the third. By then, Boston was trailing by 23 points.
"He's getting better each day," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "You saw him make some plays today he hasn't done. I think he's getting some confidence more than anything in his ankle. He's shooting the ball better, and I think you'll see him just continue to get better."
"I'm feeling better," Webber admitted. "Hopefully, I'll get back to the place where I can really say I'm feeling good. But I'm getting better. All I can do right now is concentrate on working hard, fighting through the injury and everything else".
Peja Stojakovic added 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting and credited the Kings' defense, which held the Celtics to 39 percent (34-of-87) shooting.
"Tonight was a great effort defensively," he said. "We have been playing well on both offense and defense."
"I thought that the game was a solid win," Adelman added. "We played well pretty much the whole game. The Celtics are a tough team to play. Fortunately, we got the lead and maintained it the whole game."
Paul Pierce scored 26 points for the Celtics, who concluded a 1-3 western road trip.
After Saturday's 105-103 overtime victory over the Clippers, Boston appeared fatigued. Pierce had just six points in the first quarter, when the Celtics shot 39 percent.
Boston has dropped three of its last four road games after an 8-4 start and has lost six straight here since February 16, 1996.
"This wasn't really a good trip," Pierce said. "We let a couple of games slip away. It was a bad trip, but we're still second place in the East. This team is used to bouncing back, and that's what I think we're going to do."