Corliss Williamson remembers.

November 7, 1997. The last time the Los Angeles Clippers left ARCO Arena with a win. Williamson played 23 minutes off the bench for the Kings, scoring 9 points and coughing up 5 turnovers. The Kings got smoked 95-83.

Another current King was involved – Maurice Taylor. He came off the bench for the Clips with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes. (Funny, that one boxscore outweighs what he's offered the Kings this season through 12 games. It's not like he's past his prime or something.)

The long-running Sactown domination is a novelty amongst division rivals. Yeah, there are longer streaks of single-team ineptitude than Sacramento's current 13-game overall and 16-game home streak over the Clip Set. Boston's impotence against San Antonio comes to mind. But these two teams – the Kings and Clippers – are actually decent rivals. A team from L.A. is a team from L.A. for Northern Californians – it doesn't have to be the Dodgers or the Lakers or the Rams. We hate their asses. So seeing "LAC" on the schedule matters a little more than "MEM" or "TOR" or even "DET."

1997. Billy Owens, Terry Dehere, and Pooh Richardson figured in that game. That's a long drought, especially when it's two visits a year.

It'll end eventually – and probably sooner than later. With the Clips being much better than their 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 counterparts, and this Kings team not measuring quite up to The Glory Era right now, it could happen tonight.

After watching win after win after win after win here against the Clippers, though, I wouldn't bet on it.

Venture to the land of "Read More" for, well, more.
PROJECTED STARTERS:

THE LINE:
The Kings are giving five points. This is the most confident I've felt about a Kings bet this season. Bodog is also taking bets on Kevin Martin at 24.5 points. The Clippers have been mediocre on defense (despite the highly praised Ross), so I give a thumbs-up to that over as well. I'm currently 2-6, by the way. UGH.INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT NOTE:
With Chris Kaman nursing something hurt, Brad Miller isn't actually needed terribly in this game. Williams just needs to be kept off of easy offensive rebounds, and Shareef can handle that. Miller will need some minutes, though, preferably with the starters in some spots to get his offense on track. If I were Eric Musselman, I might bring Miller off the bench midway through the first quarter in place of Reef or Kenny Thomas (depending on what Brand is doing) and play it on the fly from there. Miller is one guy who isn't going to have a hurt ego by coming off the bench for a bit, and he'd really offer a nice change of pace, I think.

PREGAME HAIKU:
Brad and Ron are back.
This team's depth can now be judged.
Clips, though, not good test.

PARTING SHOT:
I really need a better name for this running item. Suggestions?

7pm start. Let's go Kings!