Kings Are Back at Full Strength
Chris Webber, Bobby Jackson and Hedo Turkoglu will return to the Sacramento Kings’ lineup for the playoffs after missing the final game of the regular season.
All three practiced and scrimmaged without limitations Friday, Coach Rick Adelman said. Sacramento opens the playoffs today at Arco Arena against the Utah Jazz.
“I don’t anticipate any problems,” Adelman said. “Everybody should play.”
Webber, the Kings’ leading scorer and rebounder, sat out Wednesday night’s loss to the Lakers because of a sprained thumb. So did Jackson, the Kings’ sixth man, who went on the disabled list for the game so the Kings could activate Brent Price.
“My thumb is very sore, but now is the time of year that it’s an honor to play hurt,” Webber said.
Turkoglu sprained his wrist during Tuesday’s victory over Golden State.
After finishing the regular season with the NBA’s best record, Sacramento begins the postseason against the eighth-seeded Jazz, which barely hung on for its 19th consecutive playoff berth.
Webber said the Kings still remember their loss to the Jazz in the first round of the 1999 playoffs, especially Utah’s 99-92 overtime victory in Game 5 at Salt Lake City. The Kings led that series, 2-1, but the Jazz won Game 4 at Sacramento on John Stockton’s buzzer-beating jumper.
“That was one of those great series you remember for a while,” said Webber. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to say that if we hadn’t lost that series, we wouldn’t have won this one.”
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Sportscaster Marv Albert was released from a Trenton, N.J., hospital one day after suffering a concussion in a car accident.
The NBC and TNT announcer was also treated for a sprained ankle and required stitches for a gashed tongue. He underwent precautionary tests Friday morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Albert and broadcast partner Mike Fratello were taken to the hospital after their limousine struck a disabled truck at 2:55 a.m. Thursday on an interstate. Doctors treated Fratello for minor injuries and he was released Thursday morning.
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Allen Iverson practiced with the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time since injuring his left hand nearly a month ago, but he didn’t participate in contact drills.
He’ll be examined in Boston today and hopes to be cleared by the 76ers’ team doctor to play against the Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series on Sunday.
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New Jersey Net guard Kerry Kittles missed Friday’s practice because of an upset stomach, but is expected to play in the team’s playoff opener today against the Indiana Pacers.... New York Knick center Marcus Camby is being sued by a lawyer for $4 million for allegedly backing out of a deal six years ago.... Knick guard Latrell Sprewell said he has persuaded the team to slash his fine for missing a shoot-around last weekend from $125,000 to $2,500.
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