The Sacramento Kings can’t be stopped, as they ran off their 10th consecutive victory with a 109-104 win over the New York Knicks.
Mitch Richmond scored 27 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, and Peja Stojakovic contributed 22 points. Chris Webber had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the gauntlet.
Earl Monroe made 14 of 19 shots and had game highs of 29 points and eight assists for the Knicks. Dave DeBusschere (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Patrick Ewing (10 points, 10 rebounds) both had double-doubles. They had six players score in double-figures to the Kings’ four.
The Kings led the entire first quarter and led by as many as eight. The high-scoring quarter ended at 30-26 in Sacramento’s favor.
Sacramento had a power outage in the second quarter, netting only 19 points to the Knicks’ 27 as New York took a 53-49 lead at halftime. The Kings built a 10-point lead at 38-28 after a basket by Webber, but the Knicks tied it at 42, then took their first lead of the game at 44-43. Bernard King had an 8-0 run all by himself as New York went up 52-45, and it was 53-49 at the break.
The Kings more than doubled their second-quarter output by accumulating 40 points in the third quarter, while holding the Knicks to 25. Sacramento regained the lead at 58-56 on a Richmond basket, and the Kings never trailed again. Stojakovic had five points in a 7-0 run that put Sacramento ahead 72-64. Webber had back-to-back baskets that gave the Kings their largest lead of the game at 89-74. It was 89-78 at the end of the third quarter.
The Kings’ offense took a step back in the fourth quarter, as they scored just 20 points, but New York never got closer than five points, once early in the quarter and again at the end of the contest. Richmond scored 12 of the Kings’ final 14 points.
Next up: the Oklahoma City Thunder.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 