[Peja Vu]

spoilerz!!!!11

[Peja Vu]

The Game Plan: Lakers (52-24) at Kings (36-40)

Tipoff: 6 p.m.

Where: Arco Arena.

TV: 10

Radio: KHTK (1140 AM).

Head to head: This is the third of four meetings this season, with the entire stretch taking place from March 4 to the regular-season finale April 15. The teams have split while winning on each other's home floor – the Lakers 117-105 on March 4 and the Kings 114-113 at Staples Center on March 9.

Lakers update: From the March 14 game at New Orleans in which forward Pau Gasol turned his ankle until his return nearly three weeks later, the Lakers were a very ordinary 5-5. Gasol is back, though, and the Lakers have beaten Portland and Dallas since he returned. They still have time to make a late push for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Lakers injuries: SF Trevor Ariza (broken right foot, out); C Andrew Bynum (partially dislocated left kneecap, out); PG Derek Fisher (partial tear, right foot tendon, day-to-day).

Kings injuries: PG Beno Udrih (lower back strain, out); SF Ron Artest (sprained left thumb, questionable); C Brad Miller (lower leg strain, questionable); PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim (right knee surgery, out).

Probable starters

KINGS

5 Anthony Johnson PG
23 Kevin Martin SG
93 Ron Artest SF
33 Mikki Moore PF
52 Brad Miller C

LAKERS

2 Derek Fisher PG
24 Kobe Bryant SG
10 V. Radmanovic SF
7 Lamar Odom PF
16 Pau Gasol C

[Peja Vu]

Kings center Brad Miller (lower leg strain) and small forward Ron Artest (sprained left thumb) did not play against the Nuggets. Kings coach Reggie Theus said he expects Artest to play against the Lakers but was not sure about Miller's status.

Kings point guard Beno Udrih missed his ninth game of the last 10 with a lower back strain and has said he expects to return Tuesday at Golden State.

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/840493.html

[Basel57]

Good luck tonight.

[knicksfan89]

but the lakers win in the largest victory margin in sac-town since march 1989, I feel sorry for you guys

[Peja Vu]

Artest: 7/20 FG, 0 Assists.

As a team they only had 11 assists. The night before against Denver (no Artest), they had 27 assists and a win.

[Peja Vu]

The Game Plan: Kings (36-41) at Warriors (46-31)

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland

TV: cS Radio: 1140, 1050 AM

Head to head: Should the Kings fall, they would lose a season series to the Warriors in back-to-back seasons for the first time since a stretch from 1992 to 1994, when Golden State won six of eight meetings. The Kings lost 103-96 at Arco Arena on Nov. 28 and again on Feb. 9 (105-102 in Oakland), then beat the Warriors 122-105 at home March 18.

Warriors update: While this season has been a nine-game improvement from this point in the last year, the Warriors have faltered down the stretch in winning just six of their last 14 games. Their last four games are against Denver, the Clippers, Phoenix and Seattle.

Warriors injuries: SF Mickael Pietrus (right groin strain, doubtful).

Kings injuries: PG Beno Udrih (lower back strain, probable); SF Ron Artest (sprained left thumb, questionable); C Brad Miller (lower leg strain, questionable); PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim (right knee surgery, out).

Probable starting lineups

KINGS
19 Beno Udrih PG
23 Kevin Martin SG
93 Ron Artest SF
33 Mikki Moore PF
52 Brad Miller C

Warriors
5 Baron Davis PG
8 Monta Ellis SG
1 S. Jackson SF
3 Al Harrington PF
15 Andris Biedrins C

[Peja Vu]

Kings seek to spoil party for Warriors

"It just gives the guys a little extra juice to play," Theus said of the chance to affect the race. "To have an effect on what's going to happen in the West is a good thing."

And pulling a repeat of last year's final Warriors meeting would be, well, a bad thing.

In this climate of lowered fan interest and Arco Arena sellouts when the visiting team is nice enough to bring its own followers, the Kings should remember what happened around this time last year. April 13, 2007, went down as the day Warriors fans filled the building with chants of "Let's go, Warriors!" while their team's 125-108 win ultimately put them into the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons.

The victory gave Golden State the win in the season series (3-1) for just the second time since 1994, all while the Kings' playoff streak of eight in a row was broken and so many Sacramentans turned their attention to the Warriors and their electric ways.

Once again, the Kings are intimately involved in this playoff race in every way except actually being part of it. With the Warriors' losses at San Antonio and Dallas to start the month, their playoff lives in this brutal Western Conference race were on life support. Until, that is, the Kings pulled off Saturday's stunner at Denver, which was followed with the Nuggets reeling even more with Sunday's double-overtime loss in Seattle.

Thus, the race is on again. The Nuggets hold the tiebreaker with Golden State, and Dallas is suddenly leaving this part of the playoff picture, as it has a two-game lead for the seventh spot. Denver and Golden State (both 46-31) are in eighth place, with five games left and one on the verge of making unenviable history.

If either team finishes with 49 wins and doesn't make the playoffs, it will tie the 1971-72 Suns for that painful distinction of winningest seasons without a postseason. The 2000-01 Houston Rockets (45-37) had the best season without a playoffs since the format expanded to eight teams per conference in 1984.

The Kings, meanwhile, have the opportunity to spoil a team's season and crash the stage that is so perfectly set. If the Warriors do as expected and win tonight, and the Nuggets beat the Clippers in Los Angeles, then the tie will remain just in time for Thursday's Warriors-Nuggets game in Oakland.

First, though, the Warriors must get past a Kings team that has 13 wins against teams with winning percentages of .597 (which the Nuggets and Warriors have now) or better. Even with the Kings continuing to play a long rotation as part of their youth movement, they have shown an ability to be effective.

The latest example came Sunday night, when the combination of Anthony Johnson, Quincy Douby, John Salmons, Mikki Moore and Shelden Williams went on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 12. They also should benefit from the expected return of point guard Beno Udrih, who has missed 10 of the last 11 games with a lower back strain.

"(We) look at these games like (when the Warriors) beat us and made us miss the playoffs, so why wouldn't we try and do the same?" Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin said Monday. "I don't think there's any letup because we want to go into next season on a positive note."

[Peja Vu]

No Miller or Artest tonight. Udrih is returning.

[knicksfan89]

and surprise surprise they lost again to the warriors

[Peja Vu]

Suprise?

[Peja Vu]

Tonight's Kings game: Kings (36-42) vs. Portland (39-39)

Tipoff: 7 p.m.

Where: Arco Arena

TV/Radio: CSN; KHTK

Head to head: The Kings lead the season series against Portland 2-1 entering the final meeting. The last time they faced Portland (March 13), the Kings stopped an 11-game streak in which they gave up 100 or more points with a 96-85 victory at Arco Arena.

Trail Blazers update: Portland is 1-3 this month and 4-6 in the past 10 games. With a win tonight, the Blazers will move back over .500 with three games left. Brandon Roy averages a team-high 19.4 points for Portland, which scores 95.15 points per game (27th in the NBA).

Trail Blazers injuries: C Joel Przybilla (right hand, out); F-G Martell Webster (irregular heartbeat, out); F Darius Miles (right knee, out); C Greg Oden (right knee, out).

Kings injuries: SF Ron Artest (sprained left thumb, doubtful); C Brad Miller (stress fracture in left leg, bone chip in right elbow, out); PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim (right knee surgery, out).

Probable starters

KINGS
5 Anthony Johnson PG
23 Kevin Martin SG
15 John Salmons SF
33 Mikki Moore PF
31 Spencer Hawes C

TRAIL BLAZERS
2 Steve Blake PG
7 Brandon Roy SG
33 James Jones SF
12 LaMarcus Aldridge PF
44 Channing Frye C