ATLANTA – Midway through the third quarter of the Kings' 108-97 loss to Atlanta, shooting guard Kevin Martin was hit hard going for a layup and went sliding across the Philips Arena floor.

When he arose, he was clutching the left wrist that kept him out for more than two months. But what appeared to be a frightening moment for Martin wound up being a welcome one.

"I think I needed that fall," he said. "It's a little sore, but it's all right. I was just trying to loosen it up. … It was a pretty hard fall, and I didn't feel anything come loose or anything."

The screw that was inserted during his Nov. 9 surgery to repair the hairline fracture remained unchanged. Martin, meanwhile, has not.

While his shooting struggles continued (he hit 8 of 18 overall – 2 of 7 from three-point range – and is at a 38.9 percent clip since his Jan. 15 return), Martin clearly was focused on doing more than scoring early on. He finished with four rebounds and tied with Tyreke Evans for the team high in assists (five) and steals (two) .

"I just don't have a mind-frame to go out there and score 30 (points) anymore," Martin said. "I'm just trying to do other things, have more assists, get other teammates involved.

"Over the past two months that I was out, guys developed into good players, and me showing my respect is getting them involved, but (I) attack when (the opportunity) is there.

"It's going to get better game by game. Tonight I was a little more active than the first three games on the offensive and defensive ends. Hopefully it keeps progressing."

Rodríguez not in rotation – The playing-time crunch has squeezed Sergio Rodríguez out of the Kings' rotation.

The fourth-year point guard didn't play for the fourth consecutive game Wednesday in Atlanta, with coach Paul Westphal continuing to use a three-guard rotation of Tyreke Evans, Kevin Martin and Beno Udrih.

He is merely the latest player to see a significant change in his role since Martin's Jan. 15 return, but Westphal said he simply doesn't have enough minutes to go around.

"If you give 36 minutes to Kevin and Tyreke and 24 to Beno, what's left?" he said. "It's not like I don't have confidence that Sergio can do a good job, but I think it's reasonable to kind of shoot for that (with the three-guard lineup) and then fudge it a little bit depending on the flow of the game. But unless we play those three guys together, it's hard to have any more minutes at the one or two spot."

Rodríguez, who finds himself playing less than he did last season in Portland before requesting a trade in the summer, said he knew his time would decrease but he is surprised he's not playing.

"I know Kevin is back, but I still think I could fit in the rotation," said Rodríguez, who had played only a combined 13 minutes in the three games before Martin's return.

"I'm not saying play me 40 minutes, but fit (me) into the rotation and help the team. I don't know why I'm not playing at all."

KINGS NOTES

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