SACRAMENTO -- After a three-day break, the Sacramento Kings return to their home floor Wednesday night to take on the New Orleans Pelicans with a full roster. The Kings are 3-2 in the new year and currently sit just two games out of the eight spot in the Western Conference.
Omri Casspi missed the previous four games with upper back soreness, but he has practiced the last two days and is expected back for Sacramento. The 27-year-old forward leads the Kings in 3-point percentage at 47.7 percent, but coach George Karl was non-committal on whether he would start or come off the bench.
Star big man Anthony Davis has missed the Pelicans previous two games due to a back contusion and he is questionable Wednesday against the Kings. New Orleans has lost four straight, including a 95-91 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
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LINE
Kings by 8.5
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Darren Collison vs. Jrue Holiday -- Collison has had an up and down season, but tonight he faces off with a fellow UCLA alum and former college teammate in Holiday. After starting for most of his career, Holiday has come off the bench for the Pelicans over his last 17 games. This should be a quality battle between two guards that could be starters if they were on different teams.
NBA
WHERE THEY STAND
Kings: 15-22, third place in Pacific
Pelicans: 11-26, last place in Southwest
INJURY REPORT
Kings: F Omri Casspi (upper back soreness) probable, G James Anderson (hamstring) probable, Willie Cauley-Stein (finger) probable.
Pelicans: F Anthony Davis (back) active, F Quincy Pondexter (knee) out.
SERIES HISTORY
This is the first of four matchups between these two teams this season. New Orleans won the seasons series 3-1 last year including a 101-95 victory at Sleep Train Arena in April. The two teams are deadlocked at 37-37 all-time.
QUOTABLE
“82 games is definitely a learning process. 82 games is hard. The marathon race of mental focus and physical fatigue and injuries and playing through injuries. The thing I really believe and I think the players understand I believe is it’s not necessarily always about winning and losing, but making sure the process is a process of getting better on a daily basis, a game to game basis.” -George Karl