Sacramento (33-31) at Indiana (32-30) 7:00 pm EST
Sacramento (33-31) at Indiana (32-30) 7:00 pm EST
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Ron Artest goes back to the place he asked out of a few months back when the Sacramento Kings visit the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Artest effectively put an end to his four-plus seasons with the Pacers in early December when he asked to be traded. It proved to be the last straw for the organization that stood by the volatile Artest, including during his 73-game suspension stemming from the riot at Detroit in November 2004.
After weeks of speculation, Artest was finally traded to the Kings for Peja Stojakovic in January.
Sacramento has gone 15-7 since acquiring Artest, including wins in its last five games and eight of its last nine. The Kings are coming off of a 114-98 home triumph against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Mike Bibby scored 29 points and Artest added 28 points for Sacramento, which moved into seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Indiana dropped a heartbreaking 101-99 contest here against Denver on Wednesday after Carmelo Anthony hit a jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining. Stojakovic, who is averaging 20.2 points since joining Indiana, led the Pacers with 22 points.
The Kings have won six of the last seven meetings against the Pacers.
And this one. I'm not going to post the article it's a little too long http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/artest_r ... 60316.html
