SoCal NBA Preview

LA Lakers (27-12) at San Antonio (26-13) 6:00 pm
SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs haven't looked like defending NBA champions in January. The Spurs hope to win their second straight game Wednesday when they host against the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers. San Antonio, coming off a 95-86 win at Charlotte on Monday, has not won three consecutive games since a five-game unbeaten run from November 28-December 7. "For a decade now, this has been our period where we get into a little lull," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose teams is just 5-5 in January. "Hopefully we will be a lot better at playoff time as we have been in the past." The Spurs trail Dallas and New Orleans in the Southwest Division, but star center Tim Duncan is not concerned. "We have the same set of guys. We have the experience," Duncan said. Los Angeles is 8-1 in its last nine games and 2-1 since losing emerging center Andrew Bynum until at least March with a left knee injury. The Lakers did not miss Bynum in Monday's 116-99 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Derek Fisher scored 28 points, Jordan Farmar added 19 off the bench and Kobe Bryant chipped in 17 and 11 assists for Los Angeles, which has won 18 of its last 22 games. The Spurs and Lakers have split the first two of four regular-season meetings, each winning at home.


Sacramento (18-22) at LA Clippers (12-25), 7:30 pm
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- With Mike Bibby, Ron Artest and Kevin Martin all on the court together, the Sacramento Kings are a dangerous team. The Kings shoot for their fourth straight victory Wednesday when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers. When Bibby went down at the end of training camp and was quickly joined on the injured list by Martin and Artest, Sacramento suddenly was without its top three scorers for the bulk of the first two months. Bibby missed a total of 37 games, with Artest and Martin being sidelined 17 games apiece. With the three of them in the starting lineup for the first time together Tuesday, the Kings produced their best offensive output of the season - a 128-94 victory over the New Jersey Nets. Artest scored 27 points, Martin chipped in 19 and Bibby 15 for Sacramento, which shot 58 percent (46-of-80) and finished with 30 assists. The Kings aim for another outstanding performance Wednesday against the last-place Clippers, another team decimated by injuries. Los Angeles looked listless Monday in a 109-93 loss to the Utah Jazz. Corey Maggette scored 23 points to pace the Clippers, who have been without All-Star forward Elton Brand (Achilles) and young point guard Shaun Livingston (knee) for the entire season. The Clippers won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 97-87, on December 7. Los Angeles center Chris Kaman scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win.