Chris Webber had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Bibby hit two big jumpers down the stretch as the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-99 on Thursday night in the latest chapter in the NBA's most entertaining rivalry.
Before the Kings steadily pulled away from the three-time defending champions in the fourth quarter, they got three technical fouls for arguing a series of calls -- some questionable, others completely ordinary. Their excess of emotion eventually wore off, but even their coach was a bit chagrined.
And of course, the Lakers couldn't resist another chance to needle and belittle the Kings, even in defeat.
``Look at their bench -- they whine the whole game,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``They are obviously carrying something inside. Do they have to have the referees on their side to win the game? That's not good behavior for a team that wants to win a championship. They are so emotional about it.''
In the teams' third meeting of the regular season, Kobe Bryant scored 26 of his 34 points after halftime -- but his virtuoso performance couldn't beat the Kings' cool-headed play down the stretch.
Shaquille O'Neal became the 28th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. He finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds -- but Bibby, whose inclusion on the US Olympic team was mocked by Shaq earlier in the week, made a 17-foot jumper with 1:54 left to give Sacramento a seven-point lead.
``It's a great accomplishment for a knucklehead from Jersey,'' O'Neal said of his milestone.
``We gave them that one. We made a lot of silly mistakes. We match up excellent with this team. They will have to play perfect basketball to beat us. They played a great game ... [but] they almost had to play perfect basketball to beat us -- hit all the shots, get all the calls.''
With its screaming fans reaching deafening levels, Sacramento shook off three mediocre quarters to make a 16-3 run in the final 4{ minutes. Peja Stojakovic scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Webber got 10 points in the final period.
But Kings coach Rick Adelman didn't like his team's lapses in concentration. Vlade Divac, Bibby and Jim Jackson all got technical fouls, while Doug Christie, Scot Pollard and Keon Clark vocally protested calls against them.
``My [technical foul] hurt my teammates,'' Divac admitted. ``It didn't show anything. At least we played through the emotions. Sometimes you wake up feeling good, and nothing can frustrate you."
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