Basketball: Kings Beat Warriors, Get First Preseason Victory

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Kevin Martin scored 32 points, Jason Thompson had 20 points and 20 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 101-94 in a pre-season game Saturday night.

Corey Maggette scored 28 points for the Warriors (3-3). Coming back from a two-game suspension, Stephen Jackson played all 48 minutes and had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Anthony Randolph added 12 points.

Rookie Tyreke Evans had 16 points and also committed six turnovers for the Kings (1-3). The Kings are coming off an NBA-worst 17-win season.

"It feels good to get a win," said Spencer Hawes, who had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. "It doesn't matter if it's pre-season, post-season or summer league,a winmakes you feel good and puts some pep in your step."

Jackson has made it known he wants to get away from the Warriors, unhappy with the franchise's decline after its 2007 playoff run. He was fined US$25,000 by the NBA last month for publicly acknowledging he would welcome a trade.

In an Oct. 9 game against the Lakers, Jackson had five personal fouls and a technical in the opening 10 minutes, then got into a shouting match with coach Don Nelson. He was sent to the locker room, told not to return, and was subsequently suspended.

He asked to relinquish his captain title during a meeting Tuesday with Nelson and general manager Larry Riley, and Nelson accepted his request.

"I wanted to play Jack a lot of minutes and felt good about him going the whole game," Nelson said. "He had a strong performance overall."

Jackson scored 16 points in the opening half against the Kings and didn't have a personal foul until four minutes were left in the third quarter.

"I think I'm in better shape than they thought I was," Jackson said. "It felt good. Hopefully I don't have to do that a lot. It felt good to get back on the court. It gave me another test to work on my composure with the refs, just try and stay in the game. I think I got an A-plus tonight."

Martin was his usual efficient self, making eight of 15 shotsand connecting on all 15 free throws. Thompson played a pre-season-high 41 minutes and also contributed five assists and two blocked shots.

"Maybe a game like this puts a little pressure on me to have more games like this," Thompson said.

The Warriors, who have a rematch Tuesday with the Lakers, shot 40 per cent and were outrebounded 56-38.

After scoring 30 and 32 points the previous two games, Anthony Morrow had just five points for the Warriors, who trailed most of the game.