Kings’ Message Loud and Clear

Oh yeah, the Kings.

Faves of yesteryear, all but forgotten in the hype surrounding the new “greatest show on Earth,” the Sacramento Kings blasted the Dallas Mavericks back into underdog status Thursday night, outgunning them, 125-119, to take a 2-1 lead in the Western semifinals and regaining home-court advantage.

“It’s a kick in the teeth,” said Maverick Coach Don Nelson, “there’s no question about it....

“I think they made some good adjustments, going inside with their big players, making us defend. We expected them to do that but, of course, there’s only so much you can do about it.”

In the Mavericks’ case, there wasn’t much at all they could do about it, aside from saying, “Nice shot.”

Virtuosos on offense, the Mavericks are toreadors at the other end, best at getting out of the way. It’s good they’re such great shooters because they not only have to make a lot of long shots, they have to score more points than they give up--112 a game in this series.

This game was a Kings’ layup line from the start. Chris Webber scored 31 points, Mike Bibby had 29, Doug Christie 20 and Vlade Divac 19.

Scot Pollard, who had played only four minutes in the series, got 11 minutes in this one, went to the basket every time he got the ball, made all four of his shots and scored nine points.

And there went another folk movement.

The Mavericks came back to find the city whipped into a cowbell-toting frenzy. Apparently offended by the thought of Sacramento making a name for itself banging the farm implement that’s popular here, too, Maverick fans came bearing cowbells by the thousands, dwarfing the puny efforts of a few King fans who sat behind the Maverick bench in Arco Arena and moved Dallas owner Mark Cuban to plan his revenge.

There were signs (“Our Bells Are Bigger.”)

There were four guys in Chick-fil-A spotted cow costumes, standing behind the Kings’ bench, pounding on cowbells of their own.

The din they made was formidable. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, then they had to start the game.

Unimpressed, the Kings got off to a great start, running up the now-traditional double-figure lead (14 points this time) early in the second period.

As usual, the Mavericks rubbed this out in a hurry, tying it, 66-66, at halftime on Wang Zhizhi’s 18-footer that dropped after the buzzer.

Then, with Peja Stojakovic out with a sprained ankle and Webber resting, the Kings started the fourth quarter with an 18-8 run that put them ahead to stay.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks’ virtuosos struggled. Steve Nash, brilliant in Game 2, shot five for 19 in this one. Dirk Nowitzki, double-teamed now, went six for 15.

Nowitzki, often compared to a young Larry Bird, is more like a young Kevin McHale, a black hole in the offense, since the ball often goes in to him but rarely comes out.

“The next step, he has to add the pass to his beautiful game,” said Nelson. “Bottom line, when there are two men on him, we need ball movement and more assists....

“They [Kings] are a very good team. By the way, I chuckle when I hear people talking about us [playing] the Los Angeles Lakers. This is the best team in basketball. They have a better team than the Los Angeles Lakers.”

The Lakers won’t be flattered but unless Nelson’s team rallies, they may have to wait ‘til next season to show their displeasure. Right now, the Lakers aren’t Nelson’s problem.