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Kings overcome off night by Martin to top Clippers

Nov 29, 2006 - 5:46 AM SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Kevin Martin had one of his worst performances of the season, but Ron Artest had his back.

Artest scored a season-high 28 points and Mike Bibby had 19 and 10 assists as the Sacramento Kings won their 14th straight game against the Los Angeles Clippers, 93-80.

Brad Miller had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who shot 41 percent (33-of-80) and committed a season-low seven turnovers to pick up their third consecutive win.

"It was good," Sacramento guard Mike Bibby said. "We had a lot of assists compared to our turnovers so that always helps out a lot. We played (well) all the way around. Ron had a big game offensively and we came out on top."

Martin, who had scored in double figures in each game this season, entered Tuesday's contest leading Sacramento in scoring (24.9), field goal percentage (55 percent), 3-point percentage (49 percent) and free-throw percentage (91 percent). The third-year guard was 1-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-2 from the arc and did not attempt a free throw.

"I've just got to (log that one). I knew one of them was coming," Martin said. "As long as we get a win. I'm going to watch the tape, I'm sure I won't make it all the way through. But I'll just move on."

"Martin's a great player," Artest said. "He'll play better in the future. Every now and then you have a bad game. He's an All-Star so he'll bounce back."

Artest had one of his best games this season. He shot 11-of-23 from the field, including 3-of-5 from the arc, and grabbed eight rebounds.

"I was trying to be a bit more aggressive," Artest said. "Still playing the same way I've been playing and hopefully a high percentage of shots fall. As long as I keep playing defense, I feel good with my game."

Leading, 70-67, entering the fourth quarter, Sacramento outscored the Clippers, 23-13, in the final 12 minutes to secure the victory. Miller, who missed eight games with a left foot injury, returned on Tuesday and scored seven of his 12 points in the final period.

Shaun Livingston scored a career-high 20 points but had just four assists for Los Angeles, which shot just 31 percent (30-of-98) to drop its fifth straight contest.

"The shots went down, that's all," Livingston said. "I hit a couple shots and things started falling from there. I think I did a poor job of getting my teammates involved. Four assists. I know we missed a lot of easy shots but still, I've got to establish that. That's your job when you're the point guard. You've got to find a way to get guys easy buckets."

"It's hard to win a game when you're shooting 30 percent from the field," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We couldn't make any of our open shots. But, we did a good job taking care of the basketball, making our free throws and keeping ourselves in the game for a long time.

"Livingston was the only guy that could put the ball in the basket for the most part. A lot of the shots were good point-blank wide-open looks or layups we didn't finish."