Webber scored 11 of his 22 points in the final period, helping the Kings rally for a 92-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers that kept them perfect on their road trip.
Webber suffered a dislocated right index finger late in the first quarter and left the game to have X-rays, which were negative. He returned in the second period but struggled with his shooting, as did most of his teammates.
"It was really painful playing but I made it through the night," Webber said. "I dove on the floor in the first quarter for a loose ball and my finger just went inside. I got X-rays and they were negative. I'm worried about New York and Toronto. I fear I'm going to miss those games."
|
Kings-Sixers: 56k | 300k Despite a hurt finger, Chris Webber was attacking the basket in the fourth quarter. Jesse D. Garrabrant NBAE/Getty Images |
"I give my teammates credit," said Webber, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. "When people believe in you more than you believe in yourself, you can go. I did want to take it upon myself to be aggressive. I had my team in my ear yelling, 'Come on. This is what big dreams are made of,' and all this stuff. All the cliches worked today. They got me going."
There were seven lead changes before a basket by Mike Bibby off a scramble for a loose ball gave the Kings the lead for good at 85-84 with 2:09 remaining. Vlade Divac made a follow shot 38 seconds later and Webber hit a free throw for an 88-84 lead with 32 seconds to play.
Peja Stojakovic scored 21 points for the Kings (46-17), who improved to 3-0 on their five-game road trip and maintained the best record in the NBA. They swept the 76ers for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
"We defended them pretty well as the game went on. It's a big win for us to come in here against a team that's been playing pretty well," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We've got three in a row on the road and now we'll see if we can got one tomorrow (in New York)."
Allen Iverson scored 32 points for the Sixers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped and fell into a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Orlando, which it faces Sunday.
"It's always frustrating when you have a lead and you can't keep it," said Iverson, who made 13-of-31 shots. "I feel bad about us losing. The effort was there, we had a chance, but we had some bad breaks at the end."
The Kings began their trip with a 13-14 road mark and some questions about their ability to win away from raucous Arco Arena. But they held Milwaukee to 73 points on Sunday and followed by gutting out a win at Chicago the next night.
"It was the mental that we've been looking for on the road," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We took each possession. We wanted to make stops. In the fourth, you've got to make stops and you want to get the ball each time. We made some nice plays. Different guys just stepped up. It was really a good win for us."
After erasing a 20-point deficit in a win at New York on Tuesday, the Sixers seemed to tire in the fourth quarter. They made just 6-of-16 shots and committed four turnovers.
"We had some loose balls we just couldn't come down with and they made some great shots," Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said. "We had some plays that just didn't go our way. I think we were a little tired, which kind of showed late, but they made the plays; we didn't."
Iverson scored 15 points in the first quarter as Philadelphia opened a 31-24 lead. zDerrick Coleman had two jumpers around a 3-pointer to widen the lead to 42-30 with 7:16 left in the second quarter and a short jumper by Corie Blount gave the Sixers their largest lead at 50-36 with 3:28 to go.
Sacramento closed the half with a 9-2 surge and got within two points in the third quarter. Philadelphia rebuilt the lead to 69-64 entering the final period, and a free throw by Dikembe Mutombo and a jumper by Iverson pushed the advantage to eight points.
Bibby had 12 points and seven assists and Divac had 10, seven and nine rebounds for the Kings, who won despite making just one 3-pointer in nine tries. Sacramento shot 42 percent (35-of-84) and held a 49-45 edge on the glass.
"That's what good about our starters," Adelman said. "All five can make passes, they all can score and everybody who played tonight did a nice job."
Coleman scored 20 points and Mutombo added 14, 17 rebounds and four blocks for the Sixers, who shot 43 percent (35-of-82) but got just six points from their bench.
"We're a little bit disappointed," Mutombo said. "We played a great ballgame and we were not able to finish it. We did a lot of good things defensively against a high-scoring machine. We played so well on the offensive end that we had the game in control, but for some reason we panicked. We tried to play a running game and we lost control of the game."







