Still Kings at home
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Ron Artest scored a season-high 34 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Seattle SuperSonics 105-96 Tuesday night for their 14th straight home win at Arco Arena.
The Kings’ home-winning streak is tied for fourth longest in franchise history. Since Artest joined the team in late January, the Kings are 11-0 at home with him in the lineup and 16-9 overall.
Artest made 10 of 18 shots, hit 11 of 15 free throws and added eight rebounds and six assists.
After going the first 51/2 minutes without a point to open the fourth quarter and seeing its lead dwindle to one point, Artest made a jumper at the foul line to ignite an 11-4 run that put Sacramento ahead 99-91 with 3:24 left.
Mike Bibby made the last of his five 3-pointers to give the Kings a 105-94 lead with 1:38 remaining. Bibby had 30 points and eight assists.
Kenny Thomas had 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Bonzi Wells added 10 points and Brad Miller finished with 14 rebounds for the Kings, who had lost two straight games.
Ray Allen had 23 points for Seattle, which had won three of its previous four games. Chris Wilcox had 16 points and 19 rebounds, Rashard Lewis scored 15 and Robert Swift added 13 points.
The Kings were coming off a pair of road losses and needed the victory to solidify their hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Sacramento used the inside play of Thomas and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Artest to finish the third quarter with an 88-82 lead.
Notes
Seattle guard Earl Watson (neck) did not make the trip. … Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are one of only two pairs of NBA teammates to average 20 points or more per game. The others are Washington’s Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.
Kings 105, SuperSonics 96
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| SEATTLE | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Lewis | 33:38 | 5-12 | 4-4 | 0-4 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
| Wilcox | 39:52 | 7-12 | 2-2 | 5-19 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Petro | 21:51 | 3-9 | 1-3 | 3-5 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Allen | 42:04 | 8-19 | 4-4 | 0-7 | 5 | 2 | 23 |
| Ridnour | 33:06 | 2-10 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Wilks | 14:54 | 0-4 | 6-8 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Wilkins | 13:31 | 2-6 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Swift | 23:17 | 6-7 | 1-2 | 4-9 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Moore | 11:00 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Felix | 6:47 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 35-83 | 22-27 | 13-48 | 20 | 23 | 96 |
Percentages: FG .422, FT .815. 3-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (Allen 3-10, Lewis 1-4, Wilkins 0-1, Ridnour 0-3). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 17 (25 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Allen 2, Lewis, Ridnour). Turnovers: 17 (Allen 4, Lewis 3, Petro 3, Wilcox 3, Swift 2, Ridnour, Wilks). Steals: 8 (Lewis 2, Wilcox 2, Allen, Felix, Petro, Wilks). Technical Fouls: Defensive Three Second, 2:42 first; Coach Hill, 4:25 second; Defensive Three Second, 55.9 third.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| SACRAMENTO | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Artest | 42:47 | 10-18 | 11-15 | 3-8 | 6 | 1 | 34 |
| Thomas | 34:37 | 5-8 | 1-1 | 3-11 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| Miller | 39:57 | 4-12 | 0-2 | 1-14 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Martin | 25:48 | 2-10 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Bibby | 39:35 | 9-20 | 7-7 | 2-4 | 8 | 5 | 30 |
| Abdur-Rahim | 21:26 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Wells | 21:45 | 4-12 | 2-2 | 3-6 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Garcia | 9:30 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Hart | 4:35 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 37-87 | 23-29 | 13-46 | 26 | 22 | 105 |
Percentages: FG .425, FT .793. 3-Point Goals: 8-22, .364 (Bibby 5-10, Artest 3-4, Miller 0-1, Wells 0-1, Garcia 0-2, Martin 0-4). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 14 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Artest 2, Martin, Thomas). Turnovers: 14 (Artest 3, Bibby 2, Martin 2, Miller 2, Thomas 2, Wells 2, Abdur-Rahim). Steals: 10 (Bibby 2, Thomas 2, Wells 2, Abdur-Rahim, Artest, Martin, Miller). Technical Fouls: None.
| Seattle | 29 | 31 | 22 | 14 – 96 |
| Sacramento | 23 | 35 | 30 | 17 – 105 |
A–17,317 (17,317). T–2:10.