http://www.nba.com/games/20040409/SACPHO/recap.html

  Phoenix 101, Sacramento 96
  Suns Shine, Shock Kings

  PHOENIX, April 9 (Ticker) -- It has been a bad couple of days for Peja
  Stojakovic and the Sacramento Kings.

  Stojakovic badly misfired on a potential tying 3-pointer with three seconds
  left as the Kings lost to the Western Conference-worst Phoenix Suns, 101-96.

  The defeat came one night after the Kings (54-25) lost the Western Conference
  lead with a 94-86 home loss to Minnesota. The Kings, who fell 1 1/2 games be-
  hind the Timberwolves (56-24),  slipped into a three-way tie with San Antonio
  and the Los Angeles Lakers, whom they host on Sunday for the Pacific Division
  lead.

  "It's a tough loss  and you just have to deal with it,"  said Kings forward
  Chris Webber, who scored 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting. "They made some big
  shots tonight. You've got to give them credit. There's a lot on every game,
  so we just have to win and try to sew up the season the best we can."

  The Kings have lost six of their last nine games and slipped to 10-10 this
  season with Webber in the lineup.

  Sacramento rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the third quarter to
  take an 81-79 lead on a 3-pointer by Stojakovic with 9:51 remaining.  But
  Phoenix's Joe Johnson nailed three shots from the arc to help open an 89-
  83 lead with six minutes to play.

  "Joe came in at the fourth and knocked down a few 3-pointers in a row and
  that kind of gave us the momentum  to finish this game off strong,"  said
  Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

  Johnson had 24 points in 45 minutes.  He has played at least 40 minutes in
  32 consecutive contests, the longest streak since Hall of Famer Wilt Cham-
  berlain did so in 34 straight games from March 22-Dec. 22, 1970.

  The Suns built a 97-89 cushion on a 3-pointer by rookie Leandro Barbosa with
  2:20 left before the Kings stormed back,  pulling within 97-96  on a reverse
  layup by Stojakovic with 11 seconds remaining.

  Phoenix's Shawn Marion sank two free throws with 10 seconds to go to make it
  99-96,  and Sacramento - out of timeouts - raced upcourt.  The ball went to
  Stojakovic  in the left corner,  but with Marion  in his face,  his shot hit
  high off the left side of the backboard.

  "We got ourselves in a big hole and it's tough to come back when you're down
  that far," Kings coach Rick Adelman said.  "You spend a lot of energy coming
  back, but they had the answers. The Suns gave a great effort tonight."

  Johnson grabbed the rebound, was fouled with 1.3 seconds left and made a pair
  of free throws to ice it.

  "(The Suns) played great. It doesn't matter to them," said Kings center Vlade
  Divac, who had 16 points.  "It's that time of the year  when they don't have
  anything to play for.  They came through and they played hard, and we are to-
  tally the opposite. We have something to play for and we didn't play well."

  "We didn't roll over to a team that is destined for the playoffs," said Mar-
  ion, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. "We came out and played them tough
  and got a win. We are a young team and we are learning. We plan to close the
  season off strong  and bring our confidence  into next year with all that we
  have learned this year."