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Sacramento 108; Utah 95

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Published: April 22, 2003 at 3:28 AM

SACRAMENTO, April 22 (UPI) -- Peja Stojakovic scored 29 points Monday night as Sacramento overcame the loss of star forward Chris Webber with a 108-95 victory over the Utah Jazz.

The winners took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.

Webber, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds in Game One, left Monday's game after suffering a strained lower back 33 seconds into the second quarter. Instead of struggling, the Kings took over almost immediately after he went to the locker room.

"With Chris going down, we always still have confidence," said Kings guard Bobby Jackson. "That's the style of this team. When somebody goes down, someone else is going to step up. That's the characteristic this team has."

Stojakovic carried the majority of the scoring burden, making 10-of-16 shots from the floor, 3-of-5 three-pointers, and 6-of-6 free throws.

"I didn't play very well the first game," he said. "I wasn't happy with my game. Tonight, I felt much more comfortable, and I got a little bit hot. My teammates were looking for me."

"Peja stepped it up for us," said Sacramento center Vlade Divac. "He really took the team on his shoulders and played a great game. "When Chris went out, we knew it was going to be a tough night. We just put together a great game."

Utah scored the first basket after Webber left, pulling within 27-24 with 11:20 remaining in the second quarter. Sacramento responded with a 14-2 run, highlighted by four points each from Jackson and Scot Pollard.

Sacramento had a 57-42 halftime lead, and Utah never got closer than 12 in the second half. The Kings have a 2-0 lead in a postseason series for the first time in 51 years.

Jackson and Divac each finished with 15 points as the Kings shot 54 percent (44-of-82) from the floor and scored 50 points in the paint.

"I think our guys stepped up tonight," said Kings Coach Rick Adelman. "Instead of running things through Chris, we ran it through Vlade, and Scot and Keon (Clark) were doing other things. It's really a luxury."

Andrei Kirilenko had a playoff career-high 17 points, and Karl Malone added 15 for Utah, which will host Game Three at the Delta Center on Saturday.

"I don't have any answers," said Utah Coach Jerry Sloan. "They made it look like a playoff game. We made it look like the end of a seven-game road trip. We looked like a tired team trying to compete against a team that wanted to compete farther."

"It was one of those games where we were just watching," said Utah guard John Stockton, who was held to eight points and two assists. "They dominated us from start to finish."

Topics: Andrei Kirilenko, Bobby Jackson, Chris Webber, Jerry Sloan, Karl Malone, Peja Stojakovic
© 2003 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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