Spurs Leave Kings Clinging to Top Spot

Manu Ginobili just couldn’t miss, and that wasn’t good news for the Sacramento Kings.

The reserve guard made his first nine shots in the second half and finished with 29 points to lead the Spurs to a 107-89 victory over the Western Conference-leading Kings on Wednesday night at San Antonio.

The Kings are one game ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference standings, with both teams having eight games left.

“It’s all in our hands now,” King Coach Rick Adelman said. “There is no hiding now.”

The victory kept the Spurs 1 1/2 games behind Midwest Division-leading Minnesota.

“I just let the game come to me, and when I was open, I shot,” said Ginobili, who had only six points in the first half.

He made all three of his shots in the third and his first six attempts in the fourth.

“He was off the charts,” San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said of Ginobili.

Tim Duncan scored 19 points, and Bruce Bowen had a season-high 16 on seven-for-10 shooting as the Spurs shot a season-best 57.5%.

The Kings got within 94-87 with 4 minutes 21 seconds left but could get no closer as the Spurs limited them to only one more basket.

Peja Stojakovic had 19 points for Sacramento, which fell to 4-6 in its last 10 games. The Kings also played without top rebounder Brad Miller, who has bursitis in his right elbow.

Indiana 111, Milwaukee 78 -- Ron Artest had 21 points to help the Pacers clinch the Central Division title at Indianapolis.

The Pacers also secured home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Bucks for the first time in four tries, and Rick Carlisle joined Pat Riley as the only coaches in NBA history to win a division title in each of their first three years coaching. Carlisle won the first two titles with the Detroit Pistons.

Minnesota 90, Seattle 83 -- Latrell Sprewell had 27 points, including six three-point baskets, at Minneapolis. Kevin Garnett had 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Minnesota.

New Jersey 103, Washington 99 -- Richard Jefferson had 28 points and a season-high 14 rebounds at Washington to help the Nets end a three-game losing streak in overtime at Washington. Kenyon Martin returned for the Nets after sitting out six games because of a sore left knee but played only 12 minutes.

Utah 89, New Orleans 76 -- Mikki Moore scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter at Salt Lake City to help the Jazz stay a half-game ahead of Portland and Denver for the final Western Conference playoff spot. The Hornets fell into a three-way tie for fourth in the East.

Portland 105, Boston 98 -- Darius Miles had a career-high 31 points to lead the way at Boston.

Miami 100, Atlanta 97 -- Eddie Jones had 23 points, and the Heat overcame a late eight-point deficit by holding the Hawks to one point in the final 3:30 at Atlanta.

Golden State 85, Toronto 78 -- Jason Richardson had 25 points at Toronto as the Raptors were booed off the court after their fifth loss in a row.

Chicago 109, Orlando 91 -- Jamal Crawford had 27 points at Orlando, Fla., in a game between the teams with the NBA’s worst records.