Sonics - Kings 98-104
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 6 (AP) -- Francisco Garcia's timely 3-pointer saved the Sacramento Kings from what would have been quite the double whammy in their home opener.
Garcia hit a go-ahead baseline 3 with 29 seconds to play, lifting Sacramento to a 104-98 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics and a win for new coach Reggie Theus in his Arco Arena debut.
Seattle rookie Kevin Durant shot an airball with about 7 seconds left, but still finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Sonics, who are 0-4 for the first time in 30 years.
It hardly mattered that the Kings also saw their sellout streak end at 354 games: The team avoided its first 0-4 start since 1997-98. The game drew 14,908 fans - 2,409 below capacity at one of the NBA's most imposing road venues.
Kevin Martin had 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Sacramento, which will have another tough test on its home floor Friday with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Theus, dressed to the nines with a navy blue pinstripe suit for big the occasion, had his high school coach, Mike Sterling, in the stands to cheer him on after Sterling made the trip from Southern California.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 32 points for the Sonics and Nick Collison added 12 points and seven rebounds. Szczerbiak scored 18 of his points in the second quarter as Seattle built a 61-48 halftime lead before shooting 7-for-20 in the third quarter.
John Salmons added 23 points for a Kings' lineup missing point guard Mike Bibby, forward Ron Artest and rookie center Spencer Hawes. Salmons' driving layin with 1:02 to play pulled the Kings within 98-97.
"They're twice as athletic as we are,'' Theus said.
Bibby is expected to be sidelined for at least the first six weeks of the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, while Hawes is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Artest is suspended for the first seven games.
Sacramento opened the third period with a 7-0 spurt to get back in the game as the Sonics came out cold. The Kings tied it on Martin's layin with 3:02 left, then went ahead on Quincy Douby's basket the next time down before a three-point play by Szczerbiak.
Theus wasn't worried about whether the game sold out.
"Every team goes through periods of time when things are not great,'' said Theus, who took over after Eric Musselman was fired following only one season as coach. "What you do in the interim determines how long that lasts. .. We have a lot of die-hard fans.''
Robert Swift earned his first start for the Sonics, playing for the second time this season after recovering from ACL surgery on his right knee that caused him to miss all of last season. First-year Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo was considering playing Swift in back-to-back games if all went well.
Notes: Hawes, the Kings' top draft pick selected 10th overall out of Washington, was scheduled to begin practicing Wednesday. "He's so excited,'' Theus said. "He was bouncing around. He was on a pogo stick today.'' ... Durant and Hawes are good friends and got together Monday night in Sacramento. ... New Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker attended the game and sat courtside with wife, Melissa, and 8-year-old son, Darren. Baker, who recently built a home in the area, received a warm reception when introduced and shook hands with referee Ron Olesiak during a second-quarter timeout. Darren got to dribble the game ball during that break and later had a jersey signed by Bibby.
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