Kings Return to First Place

Once Peja Stojakovic start moving, the Sacramento Kings began to rally.

Stojakovic scored 11 of his 28 points in the third quarter to lead the Kings to a 99-94 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday in Houston.

The victory moved the Kings into first place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the Lakers, who lost to San Antonio.

Stojakovic, the NBA’s second-leading scorer with a 24.6 average, scored only nine points in the first half as the Rockets moved out to a 53-46 lead.

But Stojakovic scored all but two points during a 13-0 run to give Sacramento a 63-58 lead with 5:24 left in the third period. The spurt was part of a 26-4 run that helped the Kings take a 78-63 lead, their largest of the game.

“I tried to use my big guys,” Stojakovic said of his scoring spree. “I just tried to run around behind them and they’d hand the ball off to me. We were moving the ball and did a good job of working it around.”

Stojakovic was five for seven from the field and two for four from the free-throw line in the quarter. Sacramento shot 63% (12 of 19) from the field.

Stojakovic’s 13 points in the quarter helped the Kings move out to a 78-68 lead after three quarters.

Minnesota 90, Memphis 82 -- Sam Cassell scored a season-high 36 points to lead the host Timberwolves to their fifth straight victory. The loss ended the Grizzlies’ seven-game winning streak.

With the win, Minnesota moved into second place in the Western Conference just percentage points behind Sacramento. The Timberwolves also maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over San Antonio in the Midwest Division.

Detroit 79, Indiana 61 -- The Pistons held the Pacers to a season-low for points and 34.2% shooting in a matchup of teams with the top two records in the Eastern Conference at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Pistons were 0-3 against the Pacers this season, but they hadn’t played them with Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons are 16-5 since Wallace was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade on Feb. 19.

Wallace, however, didn’t provide much offense against the Pacers, scoring seven points on three-for-11 shooting.

Milwaukee 90, Toronto 83 -- Former Clipper Brian Skinner had 19 points and a season-high 14 rebounds at Toronto to help the Bucks clinch a playoff berth.

The Bucks are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of New Orleans. The Raptors have lost seven in a row.

Washington 112, Boston 102 -- Gilbert Arenas scored 32 points, including a four-point play with 1:25 left at Washington, to help the Wizards avoid their first regular-season series sweep by Boston since 1981-82, when the Celtics won six games against the Washington Bullets.

New Jersey 106, Atlanta 89 -- Richard Jefferson had 20 points and a career-high 12 assists at East Rutherford, N.J., and the short-handed Nets won their third consecutive game.

Kerry Kittles added 16 points and the Nets overcame the continued absence of Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin by shooting 53.7% from the field and getting double-figure scoring from seven players.

Seattle 96, New Orleans 88 -- The Hornets trailed by 26 points in the third quarter at Seattle, but rallied in garbage time, pulling to within 88-80 with 1:57 left.

Ray Allen made a three-point basket, but New Orleans got to within 91-84 on a putback by Robert Traylor and two more free throws from David West. But the surge came too late, and the SuperSonics made five free throws in the final 31 seconds.