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First-place Suns faces sliding Kings

Mar 22, 2007 - 4:46 PM Sacramento (29-39) at Phoenix (51-16) 10:00 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Suns are headed to the playoffs again. The postseason hopes of the Sacramento Kings are slipping away.

Phoenix clinched its third straight Pacific Division title with a 108-90 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday. The Suns are five games behind Dallas for the NBA's best record.

Raja Bell scored 22 points and two-time MVP Steve Nash collected 18 and 11 assists in the Suns' win over Minnesota.

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni even shuffled his starting lineup, replacing Boris Diaw with Leandro Barbosa, who scored 20 points on Tuesday.

Sacramento has lost seven of its last eight games and is three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the final playoff spot in the West. The Kings' struggles are compounded by injuries to starting center Brad Miller (foot) and starting forward Kenny Thomas (toe).

Mike Bibby scored 23 points and Corliss Williamson added 17 and 10 rebounds in the Kings' 95-89 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

The Suns won both meetings from Sacramento this season by an average margin of 16 points.