Magic continue road trip against Kings

Orlando is 3-1 on the current swing and will try and get back on the winning track this evening. On Sunday, Elton Brand poured in 31 points as the Los Angeles Clippers cooled off the Magic with a 116-91 victory at the Staples Center.

Rising star Dwight Howard finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss to the Clippers for the Magic, who had their six-game winning streak halted. Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points for Orlando, while Jameer Nelson netted 13 in defeat.

The Magic are 6-4 on the road this season. They will wrap up their road trip on Wednesday against Jermaine O’Neal and the Indiana Pacers.

Sacramento attempts to halt a two-game losing streak. On Saturday, Bruce Bowen scored 23 points and drained the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:18 left to lift the San Antonio Spurs to a 100-98 win over the Kings at the AT&T Center.

Kevin Martin finished with 30 points in the loss to San Antonio for the Kings, who have lost five of their last eight contests overall. John Salmons tallied 20 points for Sacramento, which fell to the Dallas Mavericks 109-90 on Friday at American Airlines Center.

On the injury front for Sacramento, forward Ron Artest (sore back) is questionable for tonight’s contest. Artest, who did not play against San Antonio, is averaging 17.4 points, 7.6 boards and 3.1 assists this season.

The Kings, who have won two in a row at ARCO Arena, are 6-2 at home this season. They will visit Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at US Airways Center.

Orlando is scheduled to host the Kings on March 17, 2007 at TD Waterhouse Centre for the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs.

Sacramento has won two of three and five of the last seven contests in this series. The Magic have lost 11 in a row at Sacramento.

The last time the Magic defeated the Kings in Sacramento was on December 19, 1993. Orlando is 3-14 at Sacramento.