Kings Keep the Jazz at a Distance

Bonzi Wells took a moment to see that, for once, Andrei Kirilenko was nowhere near the ball.

Kirilenko had blocked 10 shots but had drifted toward the basket looking for another one. He couldn’t recover to Wells as the King guard made a wide-open three-point basket with 1:37 left to key Sacramento’s 91-89 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Salt Lake City.

“Andrei is very long and very active, blocking shots. Luckily I made him pay when he left me open in the corner,” said Wells, who scored 23 points in his first start since Dec. 19.

Mike Bibby scored 24 points and had eight assists, including the passes that led to the Kings’ last two baskets.

“We talked about going to the basket and finding people out on the perimeter because they are going to be open. That’s why Bonzi got open on that three, because Kirilenko left him to go help on the ball,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said.

Trailing 91-89, the Jazz inbounded to Matt Harpring, who was open on the baseline, but he airballed an 18-footer at the buzzer that would have tied the score.

“When I let it go, I knew it wasn’t in. I was kind of surprised. I had a good look. I just missed it,” Harpring said.

With the win, the Kings moved three games in front of the Jazz for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“Every win from here on out is big for us. We knew Utah was right behind us, and this would have been a devastating loss for us if we would have lost this one,” Bibby said.

Instead, it was the Jazz that was devastated as Utah wasted Kirilenko’s second career triple-double of 15 points, 14 rebounds and the 10 blocked shots.

Deron Williams made a layup for Utah before Kenny Thomas stole the ball and Brad Miller scored on a drive for a 90-87 edge with 48 seconds left.

Carlos Boozer, who missed two free throws with 38 seconds left, scored on a putback with 1.8 seconds left to make it 90-89.

Phoenix 107, Denver 96 -- Shawn Marion scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the Suns win at Phoenix in a showdown of division leaders and possible playoff preview.

Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and Andre Miller had 21 for the Northwest Division-leading Nuggets, whose three-game win streak ended.

Phoenix and Denver are close to locking up the second and third seedings in the Western Conference playoffs. If they avoid first-round upsets, the Suns and Nuggets would meet in the second round.

Amare Stoudemire, in his second game since returning from a knee injury that had sidelined him this season, scored only six points and had five rebounds in 17 minutes. He had scored 20 points in 19 minutes in his return Thursday.

Dallas 98, Atlanta 83 -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Mavericks win at Atlanta.

Jason Terry scored 26 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 16 for Dallas (54-16), which is half a game behind San Antonio (54-15) for the best record in the Western Conference.

Al Harrington scored 19 points for Atlanta, which has lost three in a row and seven of eight. Joe Johnson had 17, and Marvin Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds.