With Game 1 Victory, They’re Kings for a Day

After several tough practices and a few emotional speeches, the Sacramento Kings opened the playoffs with a rush of energy -- enough to outrun and outscore the Dallas Mavericks.

Peja Stojakovic scored 28 points and Chris Webber added 26 points and 12 rebounds, propelling the Kings to a 116-105 victory in the opener of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Shaking off the uncertainty of a late-season collapse that cost them the Pacific Division title, the Kings made a franchise-record 11 of 21 three-point baskets, including five by Stojakovic to tie Sacramento’s individual playoff best.

“Playing them, I can imagine how defensively tough it is to play us,” Webber said. “We don’t panic as much as I think the outside panics. We just kept it together and played all four quarters the same way.”

Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points and 13 rebounds but battled foul trouble for the Mavericks, who came in 1-8 in playoff series openers on the road. These Mavericks struggled on the road all season, going 16-25, and the Kings were just as inhospitable as their cowbell-ringing fans.

“They don’t play much better than this,” Dallas Coach Don Nelson said. “This is one of their best games of the season, or at least since Webber has been back.”

The game, however, wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter, when Sacramento opened with a 19-7 run keyed by the defense of Doug Christie and Webber. Christie also had 21 points -- tying his career playoff high -- along with eight rebounds and a playoff career-best 11 assists.

Minnesota 106, Denver 92 -- Sam Cassell tied a career high with 40 points and Kevin Garnett had 30 points and 20 rebounds at Minneapolis as the Timberwolves got off to a winning start in their bid to end an NBA-record streak of seven straight losses in the opening round of the playoffs.

Rookie Carmelo Anthony had a quiet 19 points in his postseason debut for the Nuggets, though Denver, making its first playoff appearance since 1995, didn’t go quietly.

The Timberwolves had their 22-point lead in the third quarter whittled to five early in the fourth. But Cassell helped finish it off, scoring 12 points over the final nine minutes.

Detroit 108, Milwaukee 82 -- Richard Hamilton scored 21 points and the host Pistons set a team playoff record with 14 steals in shutting down the highest-scoring team in the Eastern Conference in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Detroit forced 25 turnovers and had eight blocked shots.

The Bucks’ leading scorer, Michael Redd, scored only 11 points -- nearly 12 below his average -- and went more than 18 minutes without scoring in the second and third quarters.

Miami 81, New Orleans 79 -- Rookie Dwyane Wade made a seven-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds left at Miami to help the Heat win in its first playoff appearance in three years.

Wade had 21 points and five assists. Lamar Odom, making his playoff debut, added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

New Orleans trailed, 77-65, midway through the final period, but rallied to tie the game at 79 on P.J. Brown’s jumper with 54 seconds left.

Hornet guard Baron Davis, who missed nine games late in the season because of a sprained left ankle, limped at times and left for retaping once. He scored 17 points, but had six turnovers and missed 11 of 15 shots.

*

Indiana Pacer forward Ron Artest faces a possible Game 2 suspension for taking about four steps from the bench before turning back during a confrontation between teammate Jermaine O’Neal and two Boston Celtics in Saturday’s Game 1.... The Celtics reached a financial settlement with Vin Baker, ending an arbitration process that began after the current New York Knick forward and the players’ union filed a grievance to block the team from terminating the final 2 1/2 years and $35 million left on his contract for violating the terms of his alcohol aftercare program. Terms were not revealed, but reports put it at between $15 million and $17 million.