‘I Love L.A.’ Isn’t in Their Vocabulary

The Kings said their farewells to folksy Sacramento and prepared for the inevitable culture shock upon their arrival Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. They said they were ready for whatever greets them tonight in Game 3 of their Western Conference final series against the Lakers at Staples Center.

The Kings certainly didn’t expect to be greeted warmly.

“There’s nothing I like about L.A.,” said Bobby Jackson, a reserve guard who has sparked the Kings in the first two games of the best-of-seven series. “Everybody tries to be all Hollywood and stuff.”

Added backup center Scot Pollard: “I don’t go out much in L.A. There are too many places you can get killed. There is one nice restaurant in L.A., though. I’m not going to say which one it is because I don’t want to see anyone there.”

Not that the road has been unkind to the Kings during the playoffs.

They are 4-0, having taken two games apiece from the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks, although it was clear from the Kings that they expected far more distractions in L.A.

The Kings also expressed concern about the officiating, what with the Lakers’ steady stream of criticism of the referees in the wake of Sacramento’s 96-90 victory Monday in Game 2 that leveled the series at a game apiece.

“No doubt,” power forward Chris Webber said when asked about the impact the Lakers’ complaints might have on the referees tonight. “Two years ago, they cried about how we played an illegal defense. We got four calls against us in the first quarter of Game 5 [of the first-round series].”

Webber almost had it right. In fact, the Kings had three illegal defense calls against them, resulting in two technical fouls, en route to a 113-86 loss to the Lakers in the deciding Game 5 on May 5, 2000.

Webber has had his concerns about the refereeing in the first two games of this series, saying, “I’m getting offensive calls against [Robert] Horry. I’m frustrated about the charges. They’ve got three men on me. I guess you always get the benefit of a doubt if you’re the smaller man. I don’t see what they’re crying about because I feel like I’ve been in foul trouble this whole playoffs.”

*

So why are they the Kings of the road?

“It feels good to be on the road,” Webber said. “It feels good to silence the crowd. I like playing on the road better sometimes than playing at home. You’re not supposed to do well on the road. It gives you a little bit of a security blanket because you’re the underdog on the road.”

When it was pointed out to Webber that the Kings had a league-best 61-21 record during the regular season, including a 25-16 mark on the road, he laughed.

“Who’s the underdog in this series in your eyes?” he asked. “It’s a position I relish. Hey, none of the teams that were expected to win did this year. The Rams didn’t win [the Super Bowl] and Duke didn’t win [the NCAA basketball title].”