SACRAMENTO, Calif. ( - Rookie point guard Jason Williams has been creating a king-sized stir with his flashy passing and creative plays off the dribble.

Friday night, he unveiled another facet of his game -- shooting.

Williams connected on five 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 25 points as the Sacramento Kings won their third straight game, defeating the Charlotte Hornets 106-95.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Hornets, who have opened the season 1-7.

Williams jump-started the Kings in the first quarter, connecting on four 3-pointers and 14 points. He finished with 20 in the opening half, helping the Kings to a 63-47 lead.

"Jason sure had it going, he had a feel to start the game," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "He's one of those guys who can hurt you in a lot of ways. Tonight it was scoring, he set the tone for us."

Williams, the seventh pick of the 1998 draft, came into the game averaging 16.1 points, but was shooting only 41 percent. He didn't miss much against the Hornets, making 5-of-7 from 3-point range and 9-of-13 overall.

"It was going in for me, it was one of those nights," Williams said. "We work well together as a team and know our roles. If someone has it going, we get that player the ball. Scoring isn't something I came into the league looking to do. But if I have an open shot I'll take it."

Sacramento, the league's highest scoring team, shot 50 percent from the field and made 10-of-22 3-pointers. Charlotte missed all 10 of its 3-pointers.

"They made half their 3s and we didn't make any, that's tough," Hornets coach Dave Cowens said. "We couldn't get it going."

The Kings were getting contributions everywhere. Their bench produced 41 points, receiving a huge effort from Vernon Maxwell. The veteran guard made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.

Ahead 85-75 entering the fourth quarter, the Kings reeled off an 11-2 spurt, including two 3-pointers from Maxwell.

Chris Webber was held under 20 points for the first time this season, getting 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings. Vlade Divac had nine points and 14 rebounds.

Lawrence Funderburke came off the bench for 16 points and Tariq Abdul-Wahad had 11.

"We did a pretty good job on Webber, but the young fella (Williams) hurt us," Cowens said. "He and Maxwell were 10-for-20 on 3s. They were long distance shooting."

J.R. Reid and David Wesley paced the Hornets with 21 points. Bobby Phills had 16 points and Derrick Coleman contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Notes: Williams connected on back-to-back to 3-pointers twice in th first quarter. ... Sacramento's bench outscored Charlotte 21-3 in the first half. ... Prior to the game, the Kings waived Kevin Ollie, making Maxwell their backup point guard. ... The Kings committed 25 turnovers.