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Bibby sparks rally as Kings overcome Nets

Jan 23, 2007 - 7:15 AM SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Mike Bibby and the Sacramento Kings needed a win badly and they go it in dramatic fashion.

Bibby scored all 10 points in a 10-2 run to close out the game as the Kings downed the New Jersey Nets, 88-87, for only their second victory in their last 10 games.

The Nets, who began a five-game road trip, had their season-high four-game win streak snapped.

"We should never have been in that position," New Jersey's Jason Kidd said. "We were up 20, but you have to give Sacramento a lot of credit - they kept playing. We had the opportunity to win. Anytime you're on the road you want the ball at the end. Unfortunately, the tip didn't go in for us tonight."

The Kings, who shot only 35.5 percent from the floor in a 91-74 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, won despite shooting 37.2 percent (35-of-94) from the field.

"I thought our defense in the fourth quarter was the best 12 minutes of defense we've played all season long," Sacramento coach Eric Musselman said. "(Francisco) Garcia did a great job, not only defensively, but he helped us on the glass tonight."

"I thought it was a good win for us," Bibby said. "We definitely came out fighting in the end. Everyone came together and fought their way through it. I keep telling everyone that if we play an entire game as we did in the fourth quarter, we'll be a lot better off."

Bibby hit the winning basket with 10 seconds left from just outside the foul line to give the Kings an 88-87 advantage. New Jersey had a final opportunity to win but Kidd missed a desperation layup as time expired.

"I really wasn't shooting very much because I was trying to get everyone involved throughout the game," Bibby said. "I knew I had to get the team going from the start, and then I knew I had to start shooting a little more when it came down to the end."

The Kings embarked on the run in the final 3:18 to close the gap before Bibby won it. Bibby started his 10-point spurt with a 3-pointer to slice New Jersey's lead to 85-81 and later completed a three-point play with 1:43 left to pull the Kings within 85-84.

Bibby finished with 16 points - 15 in the second half - and Ron Artest scored 21 for Sacramento.

"We hung in there," Artest said. "We didn't play well the whole game, but we just hung in there and did what it takes to win. Hopefully things will start turning around now."

Mikki Moore, who only scored four points in the Nets' 101-94 triumph over the Orlando Magic on Saturday, led New Jersey with a season-high 22 points and Kidd finished with 18.

"I'd rather score two points tonight and then have a 'W'," Moore said. "We just slacked up down the stretch. We got a big lead and we stopped playing the team basketball that we were playing."

New Jersey's Vince Carter, who is averaging 25.0 points per game, finished with only eight on 4-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Nets played their first game without star forward Richard Jefferson, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle Monday and will be out indefinitely.