Kings 91, Cavaliers 85
Wednesday November 27, 2002By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) Dajuan Wagner treated his long-awaited NBA debut like he was in some schoolyard game back home in New Jersey.
He drove to the hoop, fired up a few long-range jumpers and seemed to enjoy every second of his 33 minutes on the floor.
If Wagner was nervous, the Cavaliers rookie guard certainly didn't show it.
``Growing up in Camden (N.J.), you don't get nervous playing basketball,'' Wagner said.
Chris Webber scored 28 points 20 in the second half Tuesday night as the Sacramento Kings won their sixth straight, 91-85 over tumbling Cleveland, which has dropped 11 in a row.
After missing six of his first seven shots, Webber made 10 of 12 as the Kings beat the Cavs for the second time this season.
``In the first half, I had open shots and they just didn't go down,'' said Webber. ``In the second half, I tried to mix it up, sort of catch and shoot, take my time. I'm glad I put them down.''
Bobby Jackson added 19 points and Gerald Wallace 15 for Sacramento, which held the Cavs to one field goal a 3-pointer by Bimbo Coles in the fourth quarter.
The Cavs missed their first 10 shots and went 1-of-14 in the final period while remaining winless since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 5.
But it wasn't all bad for Cleveland. The Cavs finally got to use Wagner, who finished with 17 points before fouling out with 15 seconds left.
Wagner had been sidelined since training camp, and was hospitalized last month with a bladder infection before undergoing surgery to have a blood clot removed.
``He played very, very well,'' Cavs coach John Lucas said of the first-round draft pick. ``There were a whole lot of positives. That's just the beginning.''
The 6-foot-2 shooting guard showed why the Cavs selected him with the No. 6 overall pick, featuring an assortment of strong moves to the basket and a nice outside touch.
``I thought I could have done better, but I did all right,'' said Wagner, whose father, Milt, is a former NBA player. ``It was comfortable. I waited a long time.''
Wagner, who once scored 100 points in a high school game, didn't take long to attempt his first shot, misfiring on a 15-foot jumper just 26 seconds into the first.
The 19-year-old Wagner got his first basket on a 7-footer with 8:44 remaining in the half, and 18 seconds later, dunked an alley-oop pass from Jumaine Jones that brought the Gund Arena crowd to its feet.
``That's what I like,'' the quiet Wagner said. ``That's only going to get me to play harder.''
Ricky Davis led Cleveland with 22 points, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16.
Despite their atrocious shooting, the Cavs were within 85-83 with 2:19 remaining. However, Webber hit a jump hook in the lane, and with the Kings up by three, Wallace wrestled the ball away underneath and hit a putback while falling to make it 89-84 with 37 seconds left.
Webber, who went just 2-for-9 from the floor in the first half, scored eight points as the Kings opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 54-52 lead.
After he dunked to end the spurt, Webber hung on the rim and glared at Cavs coach John Lucas, who tried to strike up a conversation with the Kings forward at halftime.
Webber had good reason to ignore Lucas.
``I like Coach Lucas a lot, but he has gotten me out of my game a lot of times,'' Webber said. ``I'm sure glad I didn't hear him. But that look wasn't for him. It was sort of, OK, now we mean business.''< ^Notes:@ Long-time broadcaster Joe Tait called his 2,500th game with the Cavaliers. ... Kings F Peja Stojakovic missed his second straight game with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. His status is day-to-day. Hedo Turkoglu started in his place and shot 1-for-5 in 24 minutes.
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