Fri Feb 22 11:14:55 2008

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Kings start southern swing in Charlotte

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(Sports Network) - The Sacramento Kings will open a five-game road trip this evening, starting with a battle against the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Kings will also visit Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Dallas on the swing and are 8-18 away from ARCO Arena this season. Sacramento has won two straight games and recorded a 119-107 victory over the visiting Hawks on Wednesday night.

Ron Artest scored 29 points and Kevin Martin finished with 26 points for the Kings, who faced former point guard Mike Bibby for the first time since dealing the former Arizona star to Atlanta last weekend. Beno Udrih added 18 points and 10 assists, while Francisco Garcia poured in 14 points off the bench to the winning effort.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats will return home off a loss at San Antonio and own a 15-16 mark as the host this season.

In Tuesday's 85-65 loss to the Spurs at the AT&T Center, Raymond Felton tallied 19 points for Charlotte, which has dropped eight of its last nine contests. Jason Richardson ended with 13 points and Nazr Mohammed had 12 for the Bobcats. Emeka Okafor added 10 rebounds in defeat.

On the injury front for the Bobcats, guard Derek Anderson is questionable for Friday's game because of a right knee problem. Anderson has missed the last five games.

The Kings recorded a 105-91 victory over the Bobcats on January 30 at ARCO Arena. Brad Miller scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds for his first career "20-20" game to lead Sacramento, which has scored over 100 points in six of the seven all-time meetings.

Sacramento leads the all-time series, 4-3, but has dropped all three matchups at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.