Mike Bibby established himself as a go-to guy late in games with Sacramento. The Kings have proven they can end a slump without the veteran point guard, but the Atlanta Hawks could certainly use one of his clutch performances.
After struggling in his Hawks debut, Bibby will face the Kings for the first time since being traded this past weekend as the teams open their season series Wednesday night.
Atlanta (21-29) acquired Bibby from Sacramento (24-28) on Saturday in exchange for starting point guard Anthony Johnson, 2006 first-round pick Shelden Williams, backup point guard Tyronn Lue, veteran forward Lorenzen Wright and a 2008 second-round pick.
Bibby, 29, averaged 13.5 points and 5.0 assists in 15 games for the Kings after missing their first 36 contests while recovering from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He went to Sacramento from Vancouver in a trade before the 2001-02 season and helped the Kings reach the Western Conference finals that season, developing a reputation as an outstanding late-game performer.
In its first game without Bibby, though, Sacramento snapped a three-game losing streak - its longest of 2008 - with a 105-94 win over Portland on Tuesday night.
"After the trade, we feel like we have our team," said Kings guard Kevin Martin, averaging a team-high 23.2 points per game. "We have to continue to build ... starting (Wednesday)."
http://www.nba.com/games/20080220/ATLSAC/preview.html?nav=scoreboardhome
Since A-Rod hasn't made a thread yet, I decided to throw this one up. Thoughts?
I hope Bibby goes 1/10 with 5 TO's!
