Sacramento Kings

Representatives of eight of the NBA's sorriest teams and the far-from-sad Chicago Bulls dug into commissioner David Stern's large, plexiglass container hoping to reach out and touch part of a sunnier future. History says some did, some didn't. History also says that Gregg Lukenbill, managing general partner of the Sacramento Kings, had done his homework when he included his franchise among the fortunate. It was no small coincidence that he did so just minutes after Stern tore open the envelope containing the runner-up Los Angeles Clippers' team logo yesterday, thus leaving the Kings with the No. 1 selection in the June 27 draft.

BOSTON - Six weeks ago, Tyreke Evans was the go-to guy on a young Sacramento Kings team. Six weeks ago, as his coach put it, he was "a 20-point" per-game player. Six weeks ago, the swingman was finally getting into a rhythm at his new position. Six weeks ago, Evans suffered a left knee injury. Just as his game finally began to click in a way it hadn't since 2009, just when he began to understand his role, his left knee flared up. Evans returned to the Kings lineup at the beginning of this month but the injury has lingered, and without his usual burst Evans' game hasn't been as efficient.

Who: 76ers (1-2) vs. Sacramento Kings (0-3) When: 7 o'clock. Where: Wachovia Center. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WIP (610-AM). Ticket Availability: Seats remain at all price levels.  

The Miami Heat's latest spurt might have run the host Milwaukee Bucks right out of the playoffs. LeBron James scored seven of his 22 points at the end of the third quarter Thursday night as the Heat pulled away from the Bucks. Their 104-91 victory gave them a three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series.   Bulls slip past Nets Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets, 79-76, in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in Chicago to take a lead of two games to one. The Bulls had no field goals in the final five minutes of the game.

OFFICIALS FROM Comcast-Spectacor will meet with the Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday to propose building an arena to house an NBA team. The Hampton Roads Business Journal has identified the team as the Sacramento Kings. Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast-Spectacor, told the Daily News in a statement: "Comcast-Spectacor, through several of our subsidiaries, and Live Nation, both of which have a substantial presence in Southeastern Virginia for many years, are always looking for new opportunities to expand our business in the area.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It takes a lot to distract Lavoy Allen. But the 76ers forward/center, a Temple graduate, said he took time out of his preparation for Sunday's game with the Sacramento Kings to watch the Owls go down to Indiana in the NCAA East Regional. Temple lost, 58-52. "I watched it, and I was rooting for my guys," Allen said. "But I have been focused on getting ready to play the Sacramento Kings today. " The Hoosiers closed with a 10-0 run. "They almost had them, yeah," Allen said of the Owls.

Vlade Divac told ESPN.com last night that he expects to leave the Sacramento Kings after six seasons and is leaning toward returning to the Los Angeles Lakers. Divac, 36, told ESPN.com that Kings officials told him they won't increase their offer of $2.5 million for next season. "It looks like right now I'm definitely leaving Sacramento," Divac said. "I feel sad leaving, but [the Kings] didn't show any kind of interest to keep me here. "If you ask me right now, it's going to be the Lakers.

The second-round playoff series between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks has provided everything from impressive romps to thrillers decided in regulation and double overtime. Now comes the ultimate challenge: Game 7. The Kings and Mavs will play for the final time tonight in Dallas (8 o'clock, TNT), with the winner advancing to the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs. "I really don't think we'd have it any other way," Kings guard Doug Christie said.

Lakers forward Metta World Peace was suspended seven games by the NBA on Tuesday for throwing a vicious elbow at Oklahoma City's James Harden, meaning the Los Angeles starter likely will miss six playoff games. World Peace was ejected from Sunday's game against the Thunder for striking Harden in the head, giving him a concussion. World Peace claimed the contact was an accidental, overzealous celebration of a dunk. World Peace will miss the Lakers' season finale on Thursday at Sacramento and the next six games for which he is eligible.

Jerry Reynolds, the general manager of the Sacramento Kings, decided it was time to address the rumor that would not die. The rumor: Despite previous denials, the Kings were supposedly offering forward Lionel Simmons, the former La Salle University star, to the Dallas Mavericks for the rights to Jimmy Jackson, the Mavericks' unsigned first-round draft choice. "We absolutely will not trade Lionel," Reynolds said as the Kings prepared to face the 76ers tonight in Sacramento.

Miami is headed back to the Eastern Conference finals. LeBron James scored 23 points, Dwyane Wade added 18, and the Heat rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the visiting Chicago Bulls, 94-91, on Wednesday night and close out their second-round series in five games. Chris Bosh scored 12 points and Udonis Haslem added 10 for Miami, which ran out to a 22-4 lead, then was outscored by a whopping 29 points over the next 27 minutes before recovering. The Heat outscored the Bulls, 25-14, in the fourth.

Brook Lopez had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Deron Williams added 23 points and 10 assists, and the host Brooklyn Nets beat Chicago, 110-91, on Monday night. The Bulls lead the best-of-seven series, three games to two. Andray Blatche scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Gerald Wallace had consecutive baskets down the stretch as the Nets finally pulled away in a game they led most of the way. The Bulls were outscored by 15-1 down the stretch and failed to set up a second-round series with Miami.

The Miami Heat's latest spurt might have run the host Milwaukee Bucks right out of the playoffs. LeBron James scored seven of his 22 points at the end of the third quarter Thursday night as the Heat pulled away from the Bucks. Their 104-91 victory gave them a three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series.   Bulls slip past Nets Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets, 79-76, in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in Chicago to take a lead of two games to one. The Bulls had no field goals in the final five minutes of the game.

KEVIN DURANT scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook had 21 before getting ejected in the final 3 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs by beating the visiting Sacramento Kings, 104-95, on Monday night. Tyreke Evans, the Kings' second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Durant hit a three-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51.

SACRAMENTO - All 76ers coach Doug Collins could do was point to his head. There were no words forthcoming, just a finger to his temple. The question posed to Collins following Sunday's 117-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, which snapped a 15-game road losing streak, was: "What got into Lavoy Allen, and how come he can't play like this more often?" Allen posted a career-high 20 points in the win, only the second time in 17 games he has hit double figures. His minutes had dwindled drastically of late as the dreaded "plays with little passion" tag has grown larger and larger throughout the season.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It takes a lot to distract Lavoy Allen. But the 76ers forward/center, a Temple graduate, said he took time out of his preparation for Sunday's game with the Sacramento Kings to watch the Owls go down to Indiana in the NCAA East Regional. Temple lost, 58-52. "I watched it, and I was rooting for my guys," Allen said. "But I have been focused on getting ready to play the Sacramento Kings today. " The Hoosiers closed with a 10-0 run. "They almost had them, yeah," Allen said of the Owls.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It's over. The 76ers ended their almost three-month-long road losing streak with an offensive explosion, running past the Sacramento Kings, 117-103, on Sunday night at Sleep Train Arena. It was the Sixers' highest-scoring game of the season. Their previous high (109) came in a loss to Oklahoma City. The win is their first on the road since they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on New Year's Day. The victory ended their string of road losses at 15 games.

LeBRON JAMES had 40 points and a career-high 16 assists, Dwyane Wade scored 39 and the Miami Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the visiting Sacramento Kings, 141-129, in double-overtime on Tuesday night. Ray Allen added 21, Chris Bosh finished with 15 and Chris Andersen had 10 for the Heat, who remained six games clear of second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings. Miami's 12-game winning streak is the longest in the NBA and matches the second-longest in franchise history.

The drought, at last, is over. The 76ers, in search of back-to-back wins for what has seemed an eternity, defeated the Sacramento Kings on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center, 89-80, giving the team its first two-game winning streak in more than two months. Before Friday, the Sixers (20-26) hadn't won games in succession since sweeping a trio of games against Phoenix, Dallas, and Charlotte from Nov. 25 to 30. The only team in the league to have a longer such stretch is Charlotte, which started an 18-game losing streak the same week the Sixers last won back-to-back games before Friday night.

IF MORE INJURIES don't creep up, and if Doug Collins stays true to his word, and if Nick Young and Spencer Hawes continue to play well, and if the first-team offense can overcome the second team's lack of it - it appears that, perhaps, the coach has settled on a rotation. It has been that kind of year for the 76ers as injuries and inconsistent play have forced Collins to shuffle and reshuffle, think and rethink who should be playing when and where. Since his implementation of Hawes and Young to the starting lineup, Collins' team has played some of its best basketball of the season, albeit a small sample of just three games.