SAN ANTONIO - If this was a preview of a first-round matchup in the NBA
playoffs, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs will see a demanding opponent
in the Sacramento Kings. And they'll see plenty of Mike Bibby.
Bibby played in all but 2:36 of the game, and he scored 31 points, had eight
assists and seven rebounds to lead the Kings to a 97-87 victory Wednesday night.
The Kings (39-37) currently are the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs (58-17) have the top seed.
The Kings bounced back from their worst defeat of the season, a 26-point loss
at Dallas on Tuesday.
"If we play like we did tonight, I see us going far in the playoffs," Bibby
said. "If we play like last night (against Dallas), no way."
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Spurs.
Tony Parker led San Antonio with 16 points.
"I thought Sacramento played great tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
"Bibby was great. We just didn't play our normal game, and it cost us."
It didn't take long for the Kings to build a double-digit lead.
Sacramento took a 26-22 lead after the first quarter by shooting 50 percent
from the floor. Ron Artest didn't miss any of this three tries, including a
3-pointer 1:11 into the game.
Artest hit another 3-pointer early in the second quarter — his fourth basket
in four tries overall — to give the Kings an 11-point lead.
Sacramento led by 13 points at halftime and built a 19-point lead with 6:14
remaining. The Spurs failed to cut the lead to less than double digits the rest
of the way.
Artest scored 15 points. Bonzi Wells added 19 for Sacramento.