Kings Return to Their Court of Screams

Ah, Your Majesties, back for more?

Into their personal dome of doom strode the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night, returning officially to Staples Center for the first time since last spring’s West finals, which they led, 2-1, with a 20-point lead in Game 4 here ... before the Lakers rallied, capped by Robert Horry’s buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Then there was Game 6 here, when the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter of a 106-102 victory, sending the Kings back to Sacramento for Game 7, talking to themselves.

Unofficially, the Kings were back here for an exhibition game but that didn’t go so well, either, with Rick Fox trying to resume his fight with Doug Christie in a hallway.

Wednesday night, there was no Fox in the hallway ... or Horry lurking at the top of the key ... or Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant

The Clippers played hard and well and the Kings came from 10 points behind in the second half and beat them, anyway, 93-89.

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a new season. The Kings are now in a virtual tie with Seattle for first place in the Pacific. The Clippers are 4 1/2 games behind. The Lakers are 5 1/2 behind.

“With the challenge the Kings put forth last year, I’ve got to think they feel they can beat any team in the league,” said Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry.

“But the other thing, the flip side of that is, they had a chance to close the Lakers out and they didn’t so I don’t know what kind of effect that’s going to have on them, if they get into a series with the Lakers again.

“They had a chance to go back to Sacramento up, 3-1, and Robert Horry’s shot just kind of changed the whole series. But that team seems to be a really confident team. They’ve got a maturity level about them, with Vlade [Divac] and those guys, I think they can wipe what happened last year away. But until somebody beats them, the Lakers are still the champs....

“Nobody’s done that yet. It doesn’t matter, ‘Oh, we got robbed,’ and anything like that. The bottom line is that the Lakers got another ring that they put on this year.”

It’s true, King Coach Rick Adelman did mention those 27 free throws a few times after last season’s series was concluded but these days, the Kings are OK, with their history, or planning on changing theirs.

“I definitely remember being right here in this same locker,” said Chris Webber before the game. “Just being real disappointed, the most I’ve ever been in my pro career.

“But that’s the painful memory. Hopefully, I can change that memory into something else.”

The Clippers hit them with everything they had Wednesday night, coming from 10 points down in the first half as Keyon Dooling lit up defensive ace Bobby Jackson, storming into a 10-point lead in the third quarter as Michael Olowokandi started rejecting shots by Webber and Divac, one after another.

Nevertheless, the Kings eased past them in the fourth quarter, like the old pros they are, matched against kids, which the Clippers are.

“I see a great, young, awesome team,” said Webber, “especially if they had kept [Darius] Miles and still got Andre Miller, like they could have done on draft day.

“I also see potentially no team at all and I think that’s how the NBA looks at it. I think a lot of people look at it as a chance for something great but we’ll see how long it lasts here.

“I hope it lasts because I was on a young team when it wasn’t fashionable. I was on a young team in Washington. If we had been able to stay together the team that we had -- Rasheed Wallace, myself, Juwan Howard. They could have traded for a young [Latrell] Sprewell at that time for Calbert Cheaney.

“It just wasn’t cool to be a young team in the eyes of management when we all wanted to win. We had 12 guys that wanted to win, we hated losing just like it was college, we supported each other. It was a family atmosphere.

“I’m blessed to be in this situation where it’s the same thing, with veterans, but this doesn’t come around often. So I just hope for the community, especially all of the Clippers fans who come to the games and are just here waiting for something good to happen, that they stick together because this is a real good situation. I mean, there are some good guys on this team.”

For the moment, there are, anyway.

The Kings will be back Christmas Day when Fox, Horry and Shaq will be here to greet them. The season may be new but that rivalry feels as if it has been going for centuries.