The Hornets kick off a three-game road trip tonight in Sacramento. They’ll visit the Clippers tomorrow and the Warriors on Friday. Beyond that we’ll have seven games left in the regular season, all against teams with winning records. So, yeah, best to take care of business on this trip.

The Kings are 16-56 on the season, making them the worst team in the NBA right now. They can be dangerous though, as we well know from their win in New Orleans back in November. Also, two of the their three wins this month have come against the Nuggets and Suns.

The Hornets have beaten the Kings twice since that November meeting, 99-90 in December and 112-105 in February.

Game tips a 9 p.m. Central tonight. Watch for Vlade’s jersey retirement ceremony at halftime.

Other games to keep an eye on this eve (all times Central): Mavs @ TWolves (7:00), Thunder @ Spurs (7:30), Knicks @ Nuggets (8:00), Jazz @ Blazers (9:00). Check the full standings here.

Linkage:

• Ryan’s game preview
• Journals: Injuries and Replacement
• Lagniappe: 6 on 6, Tyson’s blog, Hornets-Spurs playoff thoughts and bundles more.
  
• Rival bloggers: Sac Bee Kings Blog | Sactown Royalty

(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner and the above image.)