Kings step up, knock off Hornets

This was how the Kings envisioned it.

Without postseason prayers, they pictured a new role – the spoilers – as their schedule provided the necessary matchups.

Western Conference-leading New Orleans was the first to meet the Sacramento roadblock as the Kings defeated the Hornets 94-91 Saturday night at Arco Arena.

The loss not only jeopardized the Hornets' hold on the West's top seed but likely jarred Chris Paul's MVP chances.

"Mucking it up, we can smile about it because that's been our goal," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "We are going to be here working anyways, so let's have some fun and muck it up. Make the West take notice."

The Kings have a chance to further mess with the standings with games against San Antonio on Monday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in their regular-season finale.

"We got exactly what we deserved, and that's a loss," Hornets coach Byron Scott said.

The Kings won despite the absence of leading scorer Kevin Martin, who suffered a strained right knee in Friday's win over Portland.

As in several games this season, Ron Artest's status was unknown leading up to tipoff. The Kings small forward had sat out three of the last four contests because of a sprained left thumb, but he decided to play and had a pivotal role in the upset, scoring a team-high 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field. His two consecutive three-pointers early in the fourth quarter put the Kings ahead 76-75, and he hit two more from long range in the period.

Artest's final three-pointer gave the Kings a 91-85 lead with 51 seconds remaining. They needed that cushion when Morris Peterson sank three free throws with 23 seconds remaining after he was fouled by Francisco García on a three-point attempt.

New Orleans then forced the Kings into a five-second inbounding violation, and former King Peja Stojakovic hit a three-pointer to close the gap to 92-91 with 12.3 seconds left.

The Hornets fouled John Salmons with 11 seconds left, and his two free throws provided the final points, as Stojakovic's three-point attempt with 2.9 seconds left circled the rim and fell out.

"Phil Jackson said, 'Watch out for the Kings – they'll play a part in what's happening to the West down the stretch,' " Theus said. "From the beginning to the end, we outplayed them."

Salmons finished with 18 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds for his fifth double double of the season. García scored 16 points for the Kings, who used an eight-man rotation.

David West led the Hornets with 30 points and 15 rebounds, his ninth double double this season.

"It was a fun game, and we played well," García said. "We played well together again, and when we play together, it shows that we are hard to beat."

The Kings won the season series against New Orleans 2-1 and picked up their 16th victory in 18 attempts against the Hornets at Arco. They also have won six of their last eight games overall.

"I'm very impressed with our players who are taking pride in finishing the season strong," Theus said. "That's been our goal – we weren't talking about winning the games. We were talking about finishing strong, and as I say all the time, if you play harder than the other team, you're going to have a chance to win."

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