Kings Push It to Limit

SACRAMENTO —  The Lakers can wait.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings aren’t finished baiting, bumping, belittling and generally bedeviling one another.

The Kings, making good on a vow by Chris Webber, squared their second-round playoff series with a 104-87 victory Sunday in Arco Arena that included a nasty third-quarter altercation between league most valuable player Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves and reserve Anthony Peeler of the Kings, resulting in Peeler’s ejection.

Game 7 in the increasingly combative series is Wednesday at Minneapolis, with the winner playing the Lakers in the Western Conference finals starting Friday -- at Minneapolis if it’s the Timberwolves, at Staples Center if it’s the Kings.

“I’m very confident,” Webber said, “but no more predictions.”

After Game 5, a King loss at Minneapolis, Webber said he told his teammates they’d be back for Game 7, adding: “We didn’t want to come back, but I’m telling my friends to make their reservations for when we play” Wednesday.

Assuring themselves a return engagement in the Target Center, the Kings weathered a 20-2 first-quarter run by the Timberwolves, overcoming an early nine-point deficit. They made 62% of their shots in the second quarter, when they outscored the Timberwolves, 33-14, to take a 57-44 halftime lead.

Overall, they made 50% of their shots -- after making 40% in the first five games of the series. They did not trail after the midway point of the second quarter, the Timberwolves never pulling closer than six points in the second half.

Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points and took eight rebounds. Mike Bibby had 16 points and 10 assists. And Brad Miller -- fined $10,000 earlier in the day for making an obscene gesture toward the crowd as he exited the floor after his ejection in Game 5, the result of an ugly confrontation with Minnesota reserve Darrick Martin -- contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

For the Timberwolves, Latrell Sprewell scored 27 points and Garnett had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Afterward, the focus was trained on the altercation between Garnett and Peeler. Or, as Garnett called it, the “exchange.”

In the final minute of the third quarter, as Garnett set a pick, Peeler threw an elbow into Garnett’s midsection, knocking the wind out of the forward and sending him sliding across the floor.

No foul was called, and Doug Christie of the Kings, who scored 16 points, broke free for a layup at the opposite end.

Garnett was back on his feet seconds later when he encountered Peeler again. He greeted his ex-teammate with a forearm shiver, and Peeler, who played five seasons with the Timberwolves before signing with the Kings last summer, responded by throwing an elbow into Garnett’s face, landing a solid blow to Garnett’s right cheek.

When it was announced that Peeler had been ejected and Garnett tagged with a flagrant foul, allowing him to stay in the game, dozens of fans rained giveaway glow sticks onto the court, later drawing dismissive rebukes from Garnett and Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders. Said Garnett of the crowd: “Not a class act.”

Peeler, who faces a possible Game 7 suspension, said that Garnett had hit him in the throat earlier in the quarter, a charge Garnett denied.

“Hit him in the throat?” Garnett said. “When did I have a chance to hit A.P. in the throat? ... I just looked at it as an exchange. You know, physical game, me and him got tied up. ...

“It’s a physical series. I’m not paying attention to who I’m setting picks on. I’m out here playing, doing what I’m supposed to do.”

Of Peeler’s reaction, he said: “I’m surprised it was a little dirty. You know, A.P., I played with him a couple years, so I know what kind of player he is. So, it was just a little surprising. I wasn’t going to let anybody” do that to me.

“Never have and I never will.”

Peeler wondered why Garnett hadn’t been ejected too.

Asked if he thought he’d be suspended, Peeler said: “You never know. It’s up to the league. It always takes two people to fight. It’s never just one person.”

In the visitors’ locker room, Garnett eventually bristled.

“I’m not answering all these ... questions about some exchange, all right?” he finally said. “We’ve got to win Game 7 going home and that’s the end of it.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers can put their feet up and enjoy the fireworks.