SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Just when Chris Webber's balky ankle got close to full strength, two of his fellow starters went down with injuries.
No matter: Webber's ankle and his growing enthusiasm have been strong enough to move the Sacramento Kings to the top of the Pacific Division.
Toronto's Vince Carter, center, has the ball knocked loose while he is double-teamed by Los Angeles Clippers Elton Brand, back, and Darius Miles. Carter finished with 31 points in the Raptors' 79-72 loss to the Clippers on Sunday in Toronto.
Webber had 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as the Kings won their eighth straight game and finally caught up to the Lakers, beating the Phoenix Suns 103-100 on Sunday night.
"It was a good win just because there's no love lost between these two teams," Webber said. "The fact that we didn't fall prey to all the distractions, I think that was the most important thing we accomplished tonight."
With the victory, Sacramento (27-9) moved into a virtual tie with the Lakers (26-8), who have led the division all season despite the Kings' best start in franchise history.
With two straight losses by Los Angeles and Shaquille O'Neal's impending suspension for fighting, the Kings think they might be able to make a move not that anyone in Sacramento's locker room would admit to it with Webber listening.
"What I'm worried about is us watching and looking at the Lakers, and then losing to somebody else in the first round," Webber said. "None of this really matters until the playoffs."
Trail Blazers 96, Cavaliers 64
Portland, Ore. Bonzi Wells scored 18 points, and Portland used a 19-0 third-quarter run to rout Cleveland for the second time in a week. Scottie Pippen added 13 points, Damon Stoudamire had 11 assists and Rasheed Wallace 11 rebounds for the Blazers.
Clippers 79, Raptors 72
Toronto Lamar Odom and Michael Olowokandi scored 16 points each as the Los Angeles Clippers ended a four-game losing streak. Vince Carter had 31 points for the Raptors, who didn't have any anybody else score for almost 19 minutes in the second half.
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