Kings Finish Suns’ Streak With Flourish

Jason Williams was 12 years old the last time the Sacramento Kings beat the Suns in Phoenix.

Now he’s the flashy rookie point guard of an improved team that could cause trouble in the Western Conference. On Tuesday night, with Williams scoring 22 points and Chris Webber wreaking havoc with a 28-point, 20-rebound performance, Sacramento routed the Suns, 112-95.

The victory ended Sacramento’s 11-year, 24-game losing streak in Phoenix, and first-year Coach Rick Adelman senses something special.

“We didn’t know what we’d do this year because we had so many young guys and new guys,” Adelman said. “But I believe that if we keep thinking about improving and we can win some games on the road, we’re going to be hard to handle as the season goes along.”

All five starters reached double figures for the Kings, who hadn’t won in Phoenix since Jan. 30, 1988, and had never won at America West Arena, which opened in 1992.

Philadelphia 90, Detroit 86--Theo Ratliff had 10 points, nine rebounds and five of the 76ers’ season-high 13 blocks in beating the Pistons in a matchup of undefeated teams at Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is 3-0 for the first time since 1984-85.

Grant Hill, coming off a career-high 46 points, scored 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting in the Pistons’ third game in as many nights.

Boston 108, Miami 101--Antoine Walker scored 31 points at Miami to help the Celtics beat the weary Heat for the first time in three years.

The Heat completed the first stretch of three games in three nights in franchise history.

Minnesota 74, San Antonio 70--The Timberwolves survived a combined 12-for-44 shooting effort by Stephon Marbury (six of 19) and Kevin Garnett (six of 25) to defeat the Spurs at Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves made only five shots in the final 8:49 and the Spurs made only two in the final 7:14.

Atlanta 87, Chicago 71--Steve Smith scored 30 points and the Hawks pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulls before a curious sellout crowd in first-year Coach Tim Floyd’s home debut.

Utah 90, Dallas 79--Karl Malone scored 31 points, including seven in a row in a fourth-quarter surge, as the visiting Jazz started the season 3-0 for only the second time in the 25-year history of the franchise.

Milwaukee 91, Toronto 77--Ray Allen scored 17 points as the Bucks spoiled the Raptors’ home opener in the last NBA game at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Seattle 90, Golden State 71--Gary Payton scored 20 points at Seattle and the SuperSonics improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 1993-94 season.