Here's the article from this morning's Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14155235p-14983294c.html
Kings face all that Jazz
They'll likely be without Bonzi Wells and Brad Miller for today's 'rematch.'
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, February 5, 2006
The Kings were left to rub out a lot of welts Saturday afternoon.
First there was this matter of trying to figure out how they could go the entire fourth quarter without managing a single field goal in Salt Lake City on Friday night, a fit of futility that allowed the Utah Jazz to transform a 13-point deficit early in the period into an unlikely 89-79 triumph.
The rematch, in a rare scheduling quirk, is today at Arco Arena. And just how many healthy bodies the Kings wheel out will be telling.
Kings coach Rick Adelman said he expects to be without two starters in shooting guard Bonzi Wells, a rebounding wizard who strained his troublesome groin Friday, and center Brad Miller, who is out with a fractured right thumb. The wild card is the man who couldn't lean over to pull on his shoes Friday night after the Utah meltdown due to a hip pointer and staggered and shuffled more like Frankenstein on Saturday morning. This would be Ron Artest, the do-all forward who was limited in practice.
He did muster up the strength to summon a team powwow after the workout to applaud an otherwise spirited effort in Utah, field-goal gaffes aside. But for all of his confidence in his teammates, Artest said he's not sure how active he will be today.
"It's sore, and it's hard to move, but it's not an injury where I'll be out multiple games," Artest said. "(As for today), I'm not ruling it out."
The Artest factor is critical because he has been even better than the Kings could have imagined, prolific on offense and a stopper on defense. The wheels began to wobble and then collectively bounced right into the ditch after Artest took himself out of the game in sheer agony with 5:30 remaining in a two-point game.
"You can't underestimate the value of Ron on the floor," Adelman said. "It doesn't help to lose Ron. We've learned a lot about him. We've learned about what kind of team we can be if we can all get healthy."
Adelman will also find out how his team recovers from the fourth-quarter, 0-for-20 shooting display.
"Someone asked me (after the game) if I had ever seen that before," Adelman said. "I really didn't know what he was talking about because I didn't know we were 0 for 20. When I saw the stat sheet, he was right. I had never seen anything like that. I had just about seen everything, but I hadn't seen that. You've got to look at it as lessons to be learned."
Adelman shrugged off the latest injuries. New season, same old theme.
"That's why I'm in a really good mood," the coach said, then laughed.
Reserve forward Corliss Williamson said ailments have become the norm. Translation: Deal with it.
"Good thing it's nothing new for us," he said. "We've been dealing with it all season. Pretty much another day at the office. Come in and find someone with an injury. We just have to keep fighting through it."
The Kings could conceivably feature just one original starter today in Mike Bibby, who was penciled in during training camp as a sure thing. The guard is the only man in purple to start all 46 games this season. Kevin Martin will take over for Wells again. Francisco García would fill in for Artest, if Artest can't go. Shareef Abdur-Rahim will start at center, though he's normally a power forward.
And Kenny Thomas will again start at power forward, a job he held last season after coming aboard at midseason via trade and a post he reluctantly relinquished in camp when the coaching staff elected to go with Abdur-Rahim, with Thomas as the sixth man. Thomas, however, returned to starting status after Abdur-Rahim had his jaw broken Dec. 26, and he has mostly been durable and effective, as he is the only other King to play in every game.
Abdur-Rahim is healthy, but he's not as strong as he was before his jaw ailment. Abdur-Rahim will have the wires in his mouth removed Wednesday, meaning he won't have to grind all of his meals into mush with a blender.
When he went down, Abdur-Rahim was leading the NBA in field-goal percentage at 52 percent. In the nine games since his return, Abdur-Rahim is shooting 39 percent, averaging 9.0 points in 23.2 minutes.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
