<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Kings bolster playoff chances with win over SpursSAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Mike Bibby scored 31 points and had eight assists, and the Sacramento Kings bolstered their playoff hopes with a 97-87 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.The Kings (39-37) have the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference over New Orleans. Sacramento has six games remaining in the regular season and has won four of its last five games.San Antonio (58-17) has a two-game lead over Southwest Division-rival Dallas for the best record in the West. The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Spurs.Tony Parker led San Antonio with 16 points.The Spurs shot 41 percent from the floor compared to 48 percent for the Kings.The game could be a preview of a first-round matchup in the Western Conference playoffs. 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.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.Artest scored 15 points. Bonzi Wells added 19 for Sacramento.The Kings didn't dip very far into their bench. But they were efficient when they went there.Sacramento pulled two players off their bench in the first half and got a combined 17 points from Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kevin Martin. Each player hit 4-of-7 shots, including a 3-pointer from Martin.Abdur-Rahim finished with 16 points in 24 minutes while Martin added nine.The Kings shot 5-of-24 from 3-point range in a 26-point loss Tuesday at Dallas. But they shot 9-of-18 from the 3-point line against San Antonio.< ^NotesThe Kings play Friday at the Los Angeles Clippers, but follow with four of their remaining five games at home. ... Four technical fouls were called during the first half, including consecutive calls on Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan and another 48 seconds later against Artest. ... The Spurs trailed by double digits for the second consecutive home game. San Antonio fell behind by 10 against Washington in the third quarter on Saturday but still won 106-99.</div> LINKnow the mavs are only 2 games behind the spurs for top seed in the west,and with ther big matchup between the two teams is friday, maybe the mavs got a chance.
well good game by the kings, we couldn't do <Censored> on them....... even if the mavs beat us friday we still have a game lead over them and still have the tie breaker so it's kind've like a two game lead over them.
