"We played solid all the way through," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We
beat the best team in the West at their place. If we keep playing at this level
we are going to put ourselves in great position for the playoffs."
Sacramento has a two-game lead over New Orleans for the eighth playoff spot
in the Western Conference. New Orleans kept pace with the Kings on Wednesday,
defeating Golden State in overtime.
But time is running out. Sacramento has six games remaining and has won four
of its last five.
San Antonio has a two-game lead over Southwest Division-rival Dallas for the
best record in the West. The Spurs and Mavericks meet for the final time in the
regular season on Friday in San Antonio.
The Kings handed the Spurs their fifth loss at home this season, and the two
games they lost to San Antonio this season were by a total of four points.
If the current seeds hold, the Spurs will see a far different opponent than
they did earlier in the season when they won the two close games against the
Kings. Before Wednesday, the Spurs and Kings last played on Dec. 17. Sacramento
acquired Artest in the trade with Indiana on Jan. 25.
"They are more physical," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "We are going to
use (this game) to know them better. The last time that we played was a long
time ago. So it's going to be good to know them if we really play them."
The Spurs shot 41 percent from the floor compared to 48 percent for the
Kings.
The Kings didn't dip very far into their bench. But they were efficient when
they went there.
Sacramento pulled two players off the bench in the first half and got a
combined 17 points from Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kevin Martin. Each player was
4-for-7, including a 3-pointer from Martin.
Abdur-Rahim finished with 16 points in 24 minutes; Martin added nine.
The Kings shot 5-of-24 from 3-point range at Dallas, but shot 9-for-18 from
the 3-point line against San Antonio.