Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Look out NBA West; Webber feeling best he has in two years

RENO, Nev. AP) - Chris Webber says he's feeling healthier than he has in two years and that could mean trouble for the rest of the NBA West.

Bobby Jackson scored 19 points off the bench and Webber added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 22 minutes of play Thursday to lead the Sacramento Kings past the Utah Jazz 102-92 in an NBA exhibition.

"I'm getting it back and I love that feeling," said Webber, who had three slam dunks to thrill the sellout crowd of 11,280 at the Lawlor Events Center.

"I can do things naturally again, like I can drive to the hole and shoot off one leg - things I couldn't do" while battling a nagging ankle injury much of the past two seasons, he said.

"I hurt it two years ago against Utah. It's the healthiest I've been since then. So I'm praying to God I can just stay healthy," Webber said.

"We're getting better, so we feel good about that. But really none of this means anything until the season starts."

Hedo Turkoglu had 12 points, and Mike Bibby and Gerald Wallace each added 10 for the Kings (1 (1)-, who led by as many as 18 points and never trailed.

"Boy, they are really good," Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said.

"They pass the ball. They get easy baskets. They executed their offense very well against us," he said.

Jason Collins led Utah 1 (2)- with 14 points, including 10-of-12 shooting on free throws. Karl Malone scored 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter, and Matt Harpring scored 10 for the Jazz, who made only 30 of 46 free-throw attempts.

All five Kings starters - Bibby, Webber, Turkoglu, Vlade Divac and Doug Christie - scored in the first 7 minutes to help open a 31-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. Sacramento led 55-41 at halftime.

"They made it look like we didn't even know where they were. We were totally lost," Sloan said.

"We've got a lot to learn. We couldn't get close enough to them to even guard them."

Utah pulled to 90-85 on Calbert Cheaney's layup with 5:04 left in the game. But David Webber, Chris' brother, followed with a 3-point play to make it an eight-point lead for the Kings.

"Being so close to Sacramento, it was like a home game for us. The crowd was great," Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said about the turnout on the University of Nevada campus.

Adelman said it's way to soon to talk about finally knocking off the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

"What we have to do is go out and try to be a better team than we were last year and if we do that, we're going to be fine," he said.

"That next step is a long ways away right now."

By SCOTT SONNER

Associated Press Writer

RENO, Nev.-

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