LOS ANGELES, 7 December 2004 — The Sacramento Kings fell asleep early but finally awoke to put the Boston Celtics to rest.
Peja Stojakovic scored 12 of his 27 points in the decisive third quarter, and the Kings overcame a 20-point deficit to storm past the visiting Celtics, 119-105 yesterday night for their 11th win in the last 12 games.
“Once we were down 20, it felt really strange,” said Stojakovic, who hit 10-of-18 shots, including six 3-pointers. “We just had to regroup and play better basketball. We had to be more aggressive, and play better defense.”
Brad Miller had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Chris Webber finished with 18 and 10 for Sacramento (12-5).
“It was just lack of effort, they made easy lay-ups and dunks,” said Miller in describing how the Kings got into a 20-point hole. “They had 24 or 26 fast break points in the first half, and that’s basically how they were scoring. Our guys just weren’t getting back.
“But you don’t know what’s going to happen in a 48-minute game,” he added. “That’s the beauty of it. You’ve got to play the whole game.”
Mike Bibby added 15 points and 10 assists, and Darius Songaila chipped in with 14 points off the bench as the Kings outscored the Celtics 64-43 after intermission to complete their third best comeback in franchise history.
“We started off slow,” Bibby said. “We hadn’t seen a team run like that in a while. We just had to wake up a little bit. It took time to adjust but we finally did.”
The Celtics took advantage of a sluggish opponent and raced to a 36-18 cushion after the opening quarter. The gap widened to 20 on a layup by Marcus Banks early in the second quarter. But Stojakovic scored eight points, pulling the hosts within 63-55 at halftime.
“We needed to get back in the game,” Kings coach Rick Adelman said. “Once we got into it in the second quarter, it was just a matter of what we’re going to do in the third quarter.”
The Kings opened the third quarter on a 22-6 run behind eight consecutive points by Bibby that turned an eight-point deficit into a 77-69 edge midway through the period. With Stojakovic knocking down four 3-pointers, the Kings outscored the visitors 38-17 to take a 93- 80 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.
“I was trying to get Peja the ball several times,” Bibby said. “When someone is shooting like that, you feed the hot hand.”
The Kings widened the gap to as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter and cruised to their ninth straight win at Arco Arena over the Celtics since 1996.
Mark Blount scored 18 points and Paul Pierce added 16, but went scoreless in the second half for Boston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped in the opener of a five-game road trip.
“It’s the tale of two halves,” Pierce said. “We just let out offence effect our defense. That’s how it’s been all year.
Boston’s Raef LaFrentz added 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Jeri Welsch had 13 points.
“Our running game was the difference in the first half,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “We shared the ball and played together as a team. In the second half, we tried to win the game by ourselves. We began missing shots and didn’t play any defense.”
Phoenix Suns 121, Portland Trail Blazers 99: Streaky Quentin Richardson matched a career-high with eight 3- pointers en route to 37 points as the visiting Suns blasted the Trail Blazers.
“I definitely felt like I couldn’t miss,” Richardson said. “The way those shots came down I didn’t think I was going to miss.”
Amare Stoudemire had 19 points and nine rebounds, while Shawn Marion had 16 and 12 rebounds for Phoenix, (14-3), which got back on track after having its nine-game winning streak snapped on Friday against Minnesota.
“For us to regroup and get a good win over a good team, it says a lot about us, especially on the road,” Marion said. “Sometimes it takes a little bit more off of you on the road.”
Meantime, China has banned a Nike television commercial showing U.S. basketball star LeBron James in a battle with an animated cartoon kung fu master, saying the ad insults Chinese national dignity.
The commercial, titled “Chamber of Fear,” was broadcast on local Chinese stations and on state television’s national sports channel before being pulled last month. It shows James in a video game-style setting defeating the kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese attire and a pair of dragons, considered a sacred symbol in traditional Chinese culture.The advertisement “violates regulations that mandate that all advertisements in China should uphold national dignity and interest and respect the motherland’s culture,” the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television said on a statement posted Monday on its web site. “It also goes against rules that require ads not to contain content that blasphemes national practices and cultures.”
The statement added: “The ad has received an indignant response from Chinese viewers.”
It did not say why the advertisement was considered offensive. But communist officials are sensitive about the use of Chinese cultural symbols by Westerners, and might have been especially angered that the Nike advertisement showed the foreigner winning the fight.
Maurice Zhou, a spokesman in Shanghai for Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc. said the company had no response except to say that it “respected the government’s decision.”
“We respect and follow the Chinese government’s laws and regulations,” Zhou said. He said he could not elaborate.
The Chinese television regulator tightened controls over programming in May by prohibiting the use of English words and imported programs that promote “Western ideology and politics.”
Earlier this year, the government banned a Norwegian-made computer game involving a spy chasing military secrets on similar grounds that it hurt China’s image, national dignity and interests.
The game included references to illegal computer technology, China, Russia, Libya and illicit weapons development.
The Nike advertisement is part of fast-growing foreign efforts to cash in on the huge popularity of basketball in China and the celebrity of James and other NBA players.
James is a forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and one of the NBA’s best all-around players. He ranks third in the league in scoring and last week was named the Eastern Conference player of the month.
In an unrelated case, a Chinese cartoonist is suing Nike, claiming that a stick figure in one of its worldwide advertising campaigns was copied from his work.
Zhu Zhiqiang filed suit in July, asking for 2 million yuan (US$240,000; €177,000) in compensation and a public apology, according to state media. Nike rejected Zhu’s claims, saying its figure was completely different from his.
