Kings Streak Past Rockets

It took them a while, but when the Sacramento Kings finally ended their 11-game losing streak to the Houston Rockets, they did it in a big way.

Jason Williams had 23 points and 10 assists as the Kings used a 17-1 burst in the fourth quarter to beat Houston 128-110 Thursday night, ending their long skid to the Rockets.

The Kings won their fourth game in a row and the Rockets dropped to 0-6 in Compaq Center, their worst home start ever. The Kings got their most points of the season.

The Kings beat the Rockets for the first time since a 96-91 victory in Sacramento on April 4, 1996, and registered their first win in Houston since a 114-110 victory Dec. 15, 1995.

The Kings' bench outscored Houston's 68-30, led by Predrag Stojakovic with 20 points, including seven in the game-winning rally.

"The bench won it without any help from the starters," Chris Webber said. "I'm so happy with the way our team is playing."

Kings coach Rick Adelman had a pep talk for his team in the fourth quarter run.

"I thought our second group was too lethargic when they made their run to start the fourth quarter," Adelman said. "During a time out I told the guys to push the ball more. We were fortunate to get a couple of baskets to get the lead. After that we got more confident and it just snowballed."

Predrag Stojakovic had 20 bench points for the Kings, including seven in their big run. Darrick Martin added 14.

"We're starting to develop a killer instinct," Martin said. "I know that when I'm out there and we get the opportunity to finish them off, I'm trying to step on their throat."

The Kings had to overcome a season-high 31-point performance by Hakeem Olajuwon.

Houston led 103-96 with 10:20 to go before the Kings surged to take a 113-104 edge with 5:44 left. Predrag Stojakovic had seven points in the run and finished with 20 points.

The Rockets went 7:09 without a basket until Charles Barkley broke the drought with 3:09 left.

"When we get a lead we can't lose our focus and get loosey-goosey," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We've got to stay aggressive and we're not doing that. We're going through cycles when no one is making any shots especially at crunch time."

The third quarter turned into a wide-open running show with Vlade Divac scoring 12 points in the quarter and Corliss Williamson hitting 10 for an 89-88 lead.

The Rockets got off to a quick start, breaking from a 9-9 tie with a 24-8 run that gave them a 33-17 lead with 2:54 to go in the first quarter. Olajuwon had 11 points in the period.

Barkley had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets and Steve Francis has 16 points and 11 assists.

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