Pistons 99, Kings 88

By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) Being booed at home is nothing new for Chris Webber. Losing to his hometown team is.

Cliff Robinson scored 21 points and Corliss Williamson had 15 of his 19 points during a fourth-quarter comeback as the Detroit Pistons closed the game with a 15-1 run and beat the Sacramento Kings 99-88 Sunday.

The Pistons who trailed by 21 midway through the second quarter and by 10 after three quarters handed Webber his first loss against Detroit as a member of the Kings.

``I'm used to coming out of here with a win,'' said Webber, who was born and raised in Detroit and played at Michigan.

Webber has been vilified in his home state for allegedly receiving $280,000 from booster Ed Martin, which led to his school's tarnished image and a federal trial scheduled for July on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to a grand jury.

``Outside of Detroit, nobody really cares about it,'' Webber said. ``It's a big thing here because I'm from the city and sometimes (the media) needs something to talk about. The rest of the country doesn't care about it.''

The rest of the country also doesn't seem to give much respect to the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who have won five of seven and nine of 12.

Detroit moved 1{ games ahead of New Jersey for the best record in the conference, and maintained its 3{-game lead over Indiana in the Central Division.

``This was a huge, huge win for us because of the way we came back against an elite team,'' said Chauncey Billups, who scored 18 points and made two 3-pointers in the final minutes. ``This can be a real confidence-builder for us.''

Detroit outscored Sacramento 14-3 to open the fourth quarter and take a 81-80 lead its first since the opening minutes with 7:32 left. The Kings went ahead 87-84 on Peja Stojakovic's layup with 5:08 left, but then scored only one point the rest of the way.

Webber, who scored 22 points, was 0-for-2 with two turnovers and a missed free throw in the final 4:07. He missed 16 of 25 shots.

``Frustrating Chris is always nice, but right now, the important thing is the win,'' Robinson said.

Webber, who was booed early and often, got into early foul trouble and didn't score until there was 8:24 left in the first half.

``Usually, he feeds off stuff like the crowd booing him and turns it into a positive,'' said Detroit's Ben Wallace, who had 12 points and 16 rebounds, and played with Webber in Washington. ``But after he got in foul trouble and they really got on him, I think it might have taken him out of his game a little.''

Sacramento, which was 42-2 when leading after three quarters, was trying to extend its winning streak to a season-high seven games.

``Hopefully we learned a lesson,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said. ``You have to play 48 minutes.''

Stojakovic made his first seven shots and scored 16 of his 21 points in the first quarter. He made just two of three shots over the final three quarters, then declined to be interviewed.

When asked what happened to Stojakovic over the final three quarters, Adelman bristled: ``I have no idea. You tell me.''

Detroit snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Kings with its first win against them since Feb. 23, 1998.

Williamson and Jon Barry, who scored eight points, beat their former team for the first time.

``I've been waiting for three years for this,'' Williamson said. ``You always want to do well against your ex-teammates.''

The Kings looked like they were going to run away with the game in the first half.

A 20-2 run over the first and second quarters gave the Kings a 40-19 lead before Webber even made a shot. Detroit cut the deficit to 57-46 at halftime, and trailed 77-67 after three quarters.< ^Notes:@ The Pistons, who beat the Lakers two weeks ago at home, are 14-12 against Western Conference teams. ... Robinson last led the Pistons in scoring on Jan. 24. ... Sacramento's Mateen Cleaves, who led Michigan State to the 2000 national championship, wore a Spartans jersey on the bench. Cleaves has played in just 12 games and is on the injured list with left quadriceps tendinitis. ... The Kings continue their six-game road trip at Indiana, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)