Kings Simply Solid in Beating Portland

The Sacramento Kings, known far and wide as the NBA’s flashiest team, still can be pretty good when they keep things simple.

Vlade Divac scored eight of his 13 points in the final seven minutes, and Peja Stojakovic made a big jumper over Scottie Pippen with 27 seconds left as the Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-89.

“This wasn’t a game where one guy won it for us,” Divac said. “If you want to win in the playoffs, you need to win games like these--games where you don’t turn the ball over, you don’t take bad shots and you don’t forget to play defense.”

Sacramento (52-24) maintained its lead in the Pacific Division and kept the pressure on San Antonio for the Western Conference lead with a balanced team effort and tenacious late-game execution. With only six games left in their regular season--four on the road--the Kings appeared to be in playoff form.

The Kings, who ended the game on a 9-2 run, had six players score in double figures and made only six turnovers, tying the franchise record.

With Chris Webber on the bench in foul trouble, Divac carried the Kings down the stretch--even though he missed three free throws in the final 95 seconds.

“We took control in the second half,” King Coach Rick Adelman said. “Our bench guys and our role players did a great job today. All of the guys stepped up when Webb was in foul trouble.”

Webber and Stojakovic scored 20 points apiece for the Kings.

Pippen had 21 points for Portland, which lost for the fourth time in five games while slipping 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Dallas in the Western Conference.