Peja Stojakovic had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead six Kings in double-figures as Sacramento scored an impressive 124-113 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday in Game 1 of the western conference semi-finals.
The Kings will carry a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series into Game 2 today in Dallas.
Sacramento led by as many as 28 points and the final score's closeness was not indicative of its dominance all night.
PHOTO: AFP
MVP Chris Webber added 24 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Kings, who led 62-50 at the half and stretched that lead to 22-points after three quarters.
Bobby Jackson added 23 points off the bench for the Kings, while Vlade Divac added 14 as the Kings easily won the opening battle between two of the NBA's highest-scoring teams.
Michael Finley, Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel all had 20 points for the Mavericks, but many of those points came when the game was out of reach. Dirk Nowitzki added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The crowd of 20,525 booed the Mavericks in the second half, as the final 11-point deficit was the closest the Mavericks could get in the second half.
Sacramento has beaten Dallas eight of the last 10 times the teams have met, including a five-game triumph in the second round of last year's playoffs.
"They just put on a clinic," Dallas coach Don Nelson said.
"We weren't very good in the first quarter and it set the tone for the game."
Pistons 98, 76ers 87
In Auburn Hills, Richard Hamilton scored 25 points as the No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons opened the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 98-87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is today in Auburn Hills.
The Pistons lost their first game in the opening round to the Orlando Magic and had to rally from a 3-1 series deficit to make it to the second round.
They overcame a 19-minute power-failure delay to pull away from the 76ers in the fourth quarter to pick up the game one win.
Chauncey Billups scored 24 points for the Pistons, who led most of the night and by nine at the half. Mehmet Okur added 16 points, while Ben Wallace had 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks, but just one point. Allen Iverson had 27 points to lead Philadelphia, while Derrick Coleman added 21 points for the Sixers.
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