The Sacramento Kings had one of their better defensive performances of the gauntlet and overcame a cold shooting night of their own to get back on the winning track with a 108-97 victory over the Orlando Magic.
It was the first time since the fourth game of the season that the Kings (15-7) held an opponent under 100 points. The Magic shot just 40.0% from the field and made four of 20 three-pointers.
The Kings weren’t much better, making 40.4% of their shots and going 4-for-24 from distance. They won the game at the foul line, making 28 of 33 free throws (84.8%) to Orlando’s 17-for-26 (65.4%).
Oscar Robertson scored 25 points and Mitch Richmond had 17 to lead the Kings, and both went 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Sacramento got several important bench performances, including Mike Bibby (11 points, made three of the team’s four three-pointers), Vlade Divac (11 points, 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the campaign) and Doug Christie (eight points on 4-for-4 shooting).
Shaquille O’Neal scored 25 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead the Magic.
The Kings took an early 9-3 lead, but then went cold. The Magic went on a 17-2 run to take their biggest lead of the contest, nine points, at 20-11. It was 22-15 at the end of the first quarter.
The Kings more than doubled their scoring output in the second quarter. The Magic still led by seven at 27-20, but Robertson had seven points in an 11-0 run that saw the Kings regain the lead at 31-27. Orlando took back the lead thanks to a 10-0 run that made it 45-40. The lead swung back to the Kings on a Bibby three-pointer that made it 50-47. Sacramento went into halftime with a 54-50 lead.
Orlando went back in front early in the third quarter, but the Kings wiped it out with a 12-0 run that featured five points from Domantas Sabonis and four from Richmond, making it 68-59. But, Orlando later had an 11-0 run, with O’Neal scoring the final six points, putting the Magic back up 76-72. The Kings scored the next six points to end the third quarter with a 78-76 lead. Sacramento missed all 10 of its three-point attempts in the quarter, but made all 12 of its free throws.
There were eight lead changes in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. The last one saw the Kings take a 91-89 lead on a Bibby three-pointer. That started an 8-0 run, with Robertson scoring the next five points, to make it 96-89 with five minutes left. Orlando got no closer than five points the rest of the way, and the Kings took the first double-digit lead of the game at 104-94 on a Divac basket. Sacramento outscored Orlando 30-21 in the fourth quarter.
Next up: the Philadelphia 76ers.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 