[Peja Vu]

Down Bibby, Martin, & Artest

[Peja Vu]

The Kings are not alone: New York, Cleveland and Chicago have fallen well short of their expectations

The it-could-be-worse tour begins today for the Kings, who have plenty of their own problems but might not be as bad off as the three teams they will face on this trip.

To wit: Tonight's opening act takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where nightly chants from the furious fans to fire Knicks coach/basketball president Isiah Thomas have gone unanswered.

It only makes sense, as the organization has been short on answers for its 8-21 record and there has been more off-court drama than in a season of "The Sopranos." In the latest bizarre act of dysfunction, Thomas recently passed a self-assigned two-week evaluation period in which his team went 1-4 and he, of course, saw that as reason for his survival.

In Cleveland (Friday's location), the Cavaliers have gone from making the organization's first NBA Finals appearance last season to being in danger of falling out of the postseason picture.

Contract disputes with Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic stretched on long into the season and halted much of the momentum from last June. The big picture is being threatened, too, as general manager Danny Ferry (who has tried so hard to trade for Kings point guard Mike Bibby) has been unable to put pieces around LeBron James that would ensure his star's presence beyond the 2010 summer in which he can opt out of his contract.

The Kings head for Chicago on Saturday, when they should take solace in knowing that their own below-.500 record was expected by most even before they lost three starters to injury. The Bulls, on the other hand, notched their first playoff series win since 1998 in April, yet are in disarray.

The Bulls are 11-18, with interim coach Jim Boylan running things after former coach Scott Skiles' four-plus seasons ended with his Dec. 24 firing.

Making matters worse? After so much of the early struggles were attributed to Kobe Bryant trade talks that never led to an actual deal, the Lakers reacted in opposite fashion, as they are 19-11.

"It's tough," Kings coach Reggie Theus said of the Bulls' situation. "That was a team that was so up and coming. You've just got to move forward. We know those players can play; you know they have the intangibles. It's hard when you see something like that happen."

This will be Theus' first visit as a coach to Chicago, where he played his first five-plus seasons (1978-83) and earned the nickname "Rush Street Reggie" for his flamboyant style and frequent sightings on the nightlife-rich strip in the city. Although the Kings' hotel is only a few blocks from Rush Street, whether Theus is in the mood to revisit his old spot for nostalgia's sake might depend on how his team fares before then.

With a 3-10 road record, the Kings remain among the league's worst teams away from home. They will be without Mike Bibby (left thumb), Kevin Martin (strained groin) and Ron Artest (right elbow) for all three and need near-flawless play to avoid extending their losing streak to five, six or even seven games.

[Peja Vu]

Tonight's game: Kings (11-18) at New York (8-21)

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

TV/Radio: CSN; KHTK (1140 AM)

Head to head: The Kings downed the Knicks 123-118 in double overtime on Nov. 16 at Arco Arena, though they'll need a change in game plan this time around, considering Kevin Martin - who remains out with a right groin strain - scored a career-high 43 points in the first meeting.

Knicks update: As if their record isn't bad enough on its own, the Knicks have fallen even faster recently in losing 10 of their last 12 games. Their point differential (negative 8.2) is second-worst in the league behind Minnesota (negative 8.8).

Knicks injuries: G Jamal Crawford (bruised right hand, questionable); PG Stephon Marbury (personal reasons, questionable); C Jerome James (left knee tendinitis; right foot bone spur and cyst, out).

Kings injuries: PG Mike Bibby (torn ligament, left thumb, out); SG Kevin Martin (strained right groin, out); SF Ron Artest (right elbow bone chip, out); PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim (right knee surgery, out).

Probable starters

Kings
19 Beno Udrih PG
15 John Salmons SG
32 Francisco García SF
33 Mikki Moore PF
52 Brad Miller C

Knicks
4 Nate Robinson PG
23 Quentin Richardson SG
20 Jared Jeffries SF
42 David Lee PF
50 Zach Randolph C

[Peja Vu]

For Kings, there's no place like road: They recover from home woes, rout hapless New York

The Kings finally moved forward Wednesday night as the calendar turned to Christmas Eve at last, nine days late but not a moment too soon.

"It takes the pressure off us," Mikki Moore said.

"It puts us back," Beno Udrih noted.

They trounced the heartless, spineless New York Knicks 107-97 before another angry mob at Madison Square Garden that again called for the head of coach/president Isiah Thomas, using the starring play of John Salmons and production from much of what will have to pass for depth to build a 24-point lead in the third quarter and withstand a sloppy fourth. They trounced the memory.

Dec. 23, against the Denver Nuggets, had caused that deep an emotional wound – the squandered 14-point lead in the third period, the dagger shot from Linas Kleiza at the buzzer that sent the Kings into a funk that night and a good portion of the three other losses that followed on the morale-crushing homestand.

On Jan. 2, they got past it.

"Tonight," Moore said, "we matured as a team. Definitely. Everyone who stepped on that floor played hard. That's what we needed."

The Kings got the energy hours after learning Ron Artest would be lost three to four weeks following elbow surgery and got the biggest push of all from his successor at small forward. Salmons had 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting to set a career high, six steals to set a career high, 11 rebounds to tie a career high, and six assists that didn't set anything but a tone.

Brad Miller contributed 26 points and 16 rebounds, Francisco García 22 points in his adopted hometown and Udrih 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Four Kings had at least three steals, in fact, as a dramatically undermanned team won for the fourth time in the last six road tries and became the latest to gut the dispirited Knicks.

[Peja Vu]

Another one slips away for the Kings: Rebounding woes, critical turnovers cost the Kings – again – in a narrow defeat

"Listen," Kings coach Reggie Theus began. "We've got all the built-in excuses. Which are not acceptable. But I still thought we gave them a gift.

"The minutes are high. We play tomorrow. But we can't worry about that. Bottom line, we had the game within our reach. You (make) 22 turnovers against a team that doesn't pressure. It's night in and night out, and it's ridiculous."

Turnovers and rebounding.

Rebounding and turnovers.

The Kings came in 28th in the league in turnovers, two from the bottom, then committed six in the fourth quarter that led to 10 Cleveland points. Two in a row helped the Kings' chances of rallying from a 90-89 deficit fade away for good.

The Kings came in 26th in defensive rebounding, then watched, in some cases literally, as the Cavaliers crushed their spirits with offensive rebounds. Anderson Varejao's layin with 1:02 left was on a third shot and made Cleveland's cushion 94-91.

Varejao's rebound of a James miss the next trip downcourt, after Beno Udrih's running scoop shot got Sacramento back within 94-93, led to Daniel Gibson's decisive three-pointer and the final margin with 11.8 seconds left.

"That's just been it in most of our close games and the games that we lose," Kings center Brad Miller said. "That's our downfall. Turning the ball over and giving up a lot of offensive rebounds."

Even worse for their spirits, the latest reminder came on the same night when so much had gone right – the Kings shot 55.3 percent to Cleveland's 38.5, and, of course, there was the little matter of James scoring 13 points the first quarter and 11 thereafter.