Font ResizeIf you thought the Jazz were a little beat up, check out Sacramento.
The Kings visited Utah on Saturday night without two of their best players, shooting guard Kevin Martin and guard-forward Francisco Garcia .
Martin, who averaged 30.6 points in the Kings' first five games, has a broken wrist. He will undergo surgery next week and is expected to be sidelined for two months.
Garcia broke his arm in a freak preseason accident. While he was working out in the weight room, a large, plastic exercise ball exploded.
Garcia will be sidelined for four months.
It's not an ideal situation for first-year coach Paul Westphal , considering the Kings won only 17 games last season and finished 48 games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division.
"It's not something we want to ever dwell on," Westphal said. "You just take the players you have and do the best you can. That's what this league teaches you and that's what we'll do."
Meanwhile, the Kings' injury situation concerned Jazz coach Jerry Sloan .
"They have a couple of injuries to a couple of players," he said after the morning shootaround. "But those are tough teams because [your] players say, 'This is going to be an easy game. We beat them over there in an exhibition game. So everything's going our way.' That's always been a scary mentality"
Millsap's alma mater almost comes through
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Trailing 27-7 at halftime, Louisiana Tech rallied. It was 30-28 early in the fourth quarter before fifth-ranked Boise State prevailed, 45-35.
Referring to the Bulldogs, Millsap said, "They almost came up with a win -- almost. I thought they were going to pull it off. But Boise is tough. They're a good team. Maybe next time."
As a youngster, Millsap said, football was his first love. He was a quarterback.
Millsap didn't start playing basketball until his sophomore year in high school.
