Kings crown Mavericks in playoff opener

Chris Webber chipped in 26 points and 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Kings, who failed in their bid to win the Pacific Division title after they lost to Golden State and the Lakers defeated Portland on the final night of the regular season.

Doug Christie added 21 points, a playoff career-high 11 assists and eight rebounds for Sacramento, which will host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Tuesday night.

Dirk Nowitzki poured in a game-high 32 points and hauled in 13 boards for the fifth-seeded Mavericks. Antawn Jamison contributed 18 points in the loss.

"We’ve got to forget this game as soon as possible," Nowitzki said. "They were on fire from all angles. We had to grind out every basket, and they had too many easy ones."

The Kings made 53 percent of their shots for the game (44-of-83) and hit 11- of-21 tries from three-point range (52 percent). The Mavericks connected on 45 percent of their attempts (41-of-91) and made 8-of-21 shots from behind the arc (38 percent).

"Playing them, I can imagine how defensively tough it is to play us," Webber said. "We don’t panic as much as I think the outside panics. We just kept it together and played all four quarters the same way."

Sacramento led 86-85 after three quarters and quickly increased its advantage to 92-85 as Mike Bibby’s three-pointer with 10:52 remaining capped a 10-0 burst that bridged the third and fourth periods. Christie’s breakaway layup with just over nine minutes remaining made it 96-87 and Anthony Peeler’s three-pointer near the midway point of the quarter widened the gap to 105-92.

Bibby drained two free throws with 4:14 left to make it 109-94 and the Mavericks never seriously threatened again.

"They (Sacramento) don’t play much better than this," Dallas head coach Don Nelson said. "This is one of their best games of the season, or at least since Webber has been back."

Sacramento began the game by scoring eight of the first nine points, but the Mavericks rallied and pulled within 10-8 on Marquis Daniels’ basket with around seven minutes left in the first quarter. Stojakovic’s three-pointer later in the frame stretched the edge back to seven at 17-10 and the Kings eventually led 34-31 after one period.

Dallas came out on fire to begin the second as it used a 12-4 surge to claim a 43-38 edge. During the quick run, Daniels and Jamison each scored four points. The Kings got right back into the game and actually grabbed a 52-50 lead later in the period, but Dallas scored the final four points of the half and took a 65-63 advantage into the intermission.

Nowitzki scored 16 points for the Mavericks, who shot 53 percent from the floor in the first half (24-of-45). Stojakovic netted 15 for Sacramento, which made 24-of-43 attempts from the field in the opening 24 minutes (56 percent).

In the third quarter, Nowitzki’s three early in the period staked his club to a 72-67 lead, but the Kings used a quick 9-2 run, capped by Stojakovic’s three-pointer, to pull ahead 76-74. The game remained tight throughout the rest of the period and Sacramento led 86-85 after 36 minutes.

Bibby had 14 points and seven assists.

Steve Nash and Daniels each scored 13 for Dallas. Nash also had eight assists.

These teams are meeting for the third straight year in the playoffs. Dallas eliminated the Kings in seven games in last year’s Western Conference semifinals, while Sacramento knocked out the Mavericks in five games in the 2002 conference semis.