Sacramento center hits 11 straight shots

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Though Brad Miller's teammates and

coaches have begged him to shoot more, the Kings' center usually

ignores their cajoling unless Chris Webber is out of the lineup.

Miller had a season-high 31 points and 12 rebounds while making

11 straight shots, and Sacramento rebounded from an embarrassing

loss with a 113-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday

night.

Miller thrived in the absence of Webber, who sat out with a

sprained right ankle. The two-time All-Star made every shot he took

during the final three quarters, finishing 14-for-18 while

flawlessly filling Webber's playmaking role atop the offense.

"They always say I'm probably the only person in the league

that doesn't want to shoot enough," Miller said. "When Webb is

out, I know I've got to be able to step up and change my role a

little bit. I'm cool doing it every now and then."

His inside play also got New Jersey's big men into foul trouble,

forcing defensive mismatches for the undermanned Nets. The Kings

would love to see that aggressiveness more often -- but Miller, who

made his way into the NBA with hard, thankless work, usually

refuses to assert himself quite so forcefully.

"I don't think he's ever been a volume shooter," coach Rick

Adelman said. "His first thought is to pass and to not take the

shot. The way they were defending, he was going to get shot after

shot after shot, and we kept telling him that."

There were plenty of open looks to go around. Peja Stojakovic

scored 25 points and Cuttino Mobley had 20 points, 10 assists and

seven rebounds for the Kings, who made a season-best 55 percent of

their shots and recovered nicely from their worst home loss in nine

years. San Antonio beat them 103-73 Sunday night, snapping a

six-game winning streak.

Mike Bibby had 19 points -- including four 3-pointers -- and 10

assists as the Kings moved the ball exceptionally well to set up

plenty of open outside shots while taking a 23-point lead in the

third quarter. The Kings, who had a franchise-low eight assists

against the Spurs, had 32 against the Nets.

"It's easy to get assists on this team when you have so many

scorers and shooters and unselfish guys," said Mobley, who's

averaging 4.3 assists per game with Sacramento since arriving in a

trade with Orlando, where he got 1.8. "Brad is one of the

best-shooting big men out there, and he can take it to the hole,

too. But he's unselfish."

Vince Carter scored 23 points for the Nets, but sat out the

fourth quarter after tweaking his right ankle. New Jersey has lost

in the first two stops of its five-game West Coast road swing.

"Defense, more than anything, hurt us," Carter said. "They're

a high-powered team. You have to stop Bibby and Peja, and once they

started hitting, everybody else did, too. They're tough to guard."

Jason Kidd added eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and seven

assists for the Nets, who haven't won in six trips to Sacramento

since Nov. 30, 1997. Coach Lawrence Frank thought he prepared his

team poorly for the Kings.

"We weren't prepared to come out and play (the Kings' style of

ball)," Frank said. "I shoulder responsibility. We didn't have

people prepared to play pick-and-roll teams. With that type of

performance, it's going to be hard to beat anybody."

Brian Scalabrine scored 13 points for New Jersey. Billy Thomas,

who signed a 10-day contract with the Nets on Thursday, had a

career-high 12.

Stojakovic scored 16 points in the first half and Bibby added 15

as the Kings got back to the fluid passing that made their winning

streak so much fun to watch. After getting just three assists in

the first three quarters against San Antonio, they had 14 at

halftime against the Nets.

Webber missed his fourth game of the season, but the Kings'

leading scorer and rebounder hopes to return for their rematch with

San Antonio on Thursday night.Game notes
The Nets are 1-12 when allowing 100 points, and 0-9 when

their opponents make at least 50 percent of their shots. ...

Earlier in the day, Sacramento put F Maurice Evans on the injured

list with a strained groin. The Kings also activated rookie F Erik

Daniels. ... Nets backup Jabari Smith got a warm ovation in the

second quarter from fans who remember his days as a Kings

benchwarmer.