Tonight begins a five-game homestand for the Kings in which they could impact playoff positioning in both conferences.
Except for Sunday's game against Minnesota, each of the Kings' opponents is trying to solidify its playoff spot. That includes the Toronto Raptors, tonight's opponent.
So while the Kings will have their Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year campaign tonight, the Raptors are trying to stay in the playoffs.
Toronto is the sixth team in the Eastern Conference, but just a game ahead of Miami and Charlotte, the seventh and eighth teams.
And the Raptors are sure to be in a foul mood considering what happened to them last night:
--Jason Jones
From The Bee
Kings promote Evans for Rookie of Year By Ailene Voisin
Kings sputter down stretch By Sam Amick
Kings notes: Evans sorry for criticizing teammate Nocioni in public By Sam Amick
From The Toronto Star
Turkoglu has time to deliver goods By Dave Feschuk
Gameplan -By Sam Amick
TONIGHT'S GAME
Toronto (32-30) at Kings (21-43)
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Arco Arena.
TV: CSNCA.
Radio: KHTK (1140 AM).
Kings update: This is the second and final time the Kings face the Raptors, and they'll have to do a better job slowing Chris Bosh if they're going to exact revenge. The Toronto star scored 36 points in the Kings' 115-104 loss at Air Canada Centre on Feb. 7, with 12 of his points coming in the fourth quarter. It was the Raptors' third consecutive win over the Kings and their sixth in a row in Toronto.
Raptors update: Toronto may not be playing well enough to guarantee the big-name free-agent-to-be (Bosh) will stay north of the border, but the Raptors are in playoff position. They're on a slide recently, though, having lost five of six games entering Tuesday. This will be the second game on their four-game, West Coast trip. Bosh missed seven games recently because of a sprained left ankle and a stomach virus, with Toronto going 3-4 without him. He returned Sunday, and the Raptors lost to Philadelphia.
Probable starters
KINGS
No. Player Pos.
19 Beno Udrih PG
13 Tyreke Evans SG
20 Donté Greene SF
24 Carl Landy PF
31 Spencer Hawes C
RAPTORS
No. Player Pos.
1 Jarrett Jack PG
10 DeMar DeRozan SG
24 Sonny Weems SF
4 Chris Bosh PF
7 Andrea Bargnani C
