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Tonight, the New Orleans Hornets continue a five game home stand against Marcus Thornton and the Sacramento Kings. The Kings come into the game having lost five in a row and losing last night in Dallas. The Hornets enter this game coming off of a frustrating loss to the Kobe Bryant-less Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Essentially, the only people that care about this game are Hornets fans and Kings fans.
It's actually a battle of futility here in the Big Easy as the teams have the two worst records in the Western Conference. The Hornets, having held on to that distinction all season long, are now facing stiff competition from Sacramento and Golden State as the season comes to a close. The biggest reason for the gap is probably that Sacramento, with a win tonight, will have swept the New Orleans Hornets in the season series for the first time since 2003-2004. DeMarcus Cousins has missed the two games versus the Hornets this season but looks to actually play tonight.
Expected out for Sacramento tonight are John Salmons (hip) and Francisco Garcia (concussion). Out for New Orleans tonight is Jarrett Jack (foot), Emeka Okafor (knee) and Chris Johnson (concussion). No word yet on if Trevor Ariza will take time away from the youngsters but Eric Gordon is questionable with his back injury. Last word reported is that he did not participate in the team's shoot around this morning, so it looks like he'll miss his 53rd game this season.