Bibby’s heroics deflate the Suns

Mike Bibby made one last dramatic three-point basket and strutted downcourt with his signature bigfoot walk.

It has been a while since Bibby had a big-game effort that incited his home crowd as he did during the Sacramento Kings’ better years.

Bibby scored 37 points and made two of his franchise-record nine three-pointers in the final 1:15, leading the Kings to an improbable 107-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

The Kings ended a three-game losing streak and maintained an outside shot at the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

“This feels good,” Bibby said. “It was a big win, and we needed it. We’ve got 12 [games] left, so we’ve got to make sure we get a good amount of those 12 to give ourselves a chance.”

Sacramento is four games behind the Clippers for the final playoff berth.

Bibby went a career-best nine for 12 on three-pointers to surpass Mitch Richmond’s franchise record, set against the Clippers in 1994.

Leandro Barbosa scored 27 points for Phoenix.

“We knew they were at home and the momentum was there for us to take advantage of the game, but we let them stick around, and we didn’t get stops when we needed to,” said Shawn Marion, who scored 17 points.

Denver 105, Cleveland 93 -- The Nuggets shot a season-best 60% and outscored the Cavaliers, 8-0, over the final 3:02 at Cleveland.

Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting to improve to 5-2 in career matchups against LeBron James. James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 18 points apiece for the Cavaliers.

Chicago 92, Indiana 90 -- Ben Gordon’s spinning fadeaway from just inside the paint with 2.8 seconds left lifted the Bulls at Indianapolis.

Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal had a chance to force overtime but missed a jumper as time expired. He finished with 39 points, the second-highest total of his career, and had 14 rebounds. He scored Indiana’s final 14 points.

Gordon finished with 31 points.

New Orleans 106, Houston 94 -- The Hornets closed out the game on a 13-3 run at Oklahoma City to move within two games of the idle Clippers for the final Western playoff spot.

Chris Paul (28 points) and David West (23) scored 18 of the Hornets’ final 25 points. Tracy McGrady scored 31 points to lead Houston, which had a five-game winning streak stopped.

Dallas 104, Atlanta 97 -- The Mavericks led by 23 points in the second quarter and held on at Atlanta for their sixth straight victory.

Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 28 points for Dallas. Josh Childress and Josh Smith scored 21 apiece for the Hawks.

Detroit 121, Milwaukee 95 -- The short-handed Pistons shot 63% in the first half, including 80% in the second quarter, to win at Milwaukee.

Tayshaun Prince scored 28 points and backup forward Jason Maxiell had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Pistons, who played without Rasheed Wallace (suspension) and Richard Hamilton (illness) and lost Chris Webber to illness after the first quarter.

San Antonio 120, Seattle 79 -- The Spurs, who beat the SuperSonics by 20 points in November and 31 points in February, handed Seattle its biggest home loss since a 44-point defeat to Dallas in 1985.

Tony Parker set the tone with 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Luke Ridnour scored 16 for Seattle.

Minnesota 94, Portland 93 -- Kevin Garnett’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer lifted the host Timberwolves.

Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge’s tip-in had given Portland the lead.

Garnett finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Brandon Roy had 22 points for Portland.