The Hawks are on the cusp of making a giant step forward, as playing these close game may prove. But they have a lot of learning and growing to do before they can begin to make these close losses quality wins.

One more point.

One more free throw.

One more pass.

One more of anything and the Hawks would have taken out the team with the best record in basketball, the Sacramento Kings.

By the time the buzzer mercifully put an end to 48 minutes of basketball futility, the Rockets were left with no words to explain a 101-74 drubbing and the worst shooting night in the 35-year history of the franchise.

The Rockets set a franchise record by shooting 29.9 percent (26-of-87), breaking the record of 30.0 percent set Jan. 12, 1968, during their inaugural season in San Diego.

"We were horrible," said Tomjanovich, whose team committed 16 turnovers. "I have no reason. I can't understand why. It was about, without using profanity, the blankety-blank-blank as I've felt about this team, because that's just not the guys I know who have fought all year.

"Today they weren't the guys that I thought I knew."

Tonight's game could have offered a rare showdown of two of the NBA's youngest players, teenagers Eddie Griffin of the Rockets and Gerald Wallace of the Kings.

But that matchup might not make it to the court.

Griffin is probable after suffering a sprained toe in Seattle last week, although Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich is often hesitant to bring players back from injuries before they practice.

Wallace, who was the last player off the bench last week against the Rockets in Sacramento, started on Tuesday with Hedo Turkoglu and Peja Stojakovic out.

Turkoglu is expected back, however, sending Wallace back to the bench.

The Kings are laced with talent and, much like those Portland squads, lack the furious focus essential to winning titles.

Take last Sunday's game against the Lakers.

The Kings had plenty going for them ? the Arco frenzy, hefty leads, a power forward surely capable of dominating his counterpart, be it Samaki Walker or Robert Horry, and Shaquille O'Neal fouling out in the final minutes.

Result: Kobe Bryant leads the purple and gold to victory.

What happened? The Kings failed to exhibit a focused offense, a funneling of the ball into the sure hands of a take-over guy.

A Tim Duncan kind of guy.

The Nuggets lose at Sacramento 118-82.  The losing streak is now at 7 games, largest of the season.

George McCloud was Denver's leading scorer with 15 points.  Hedo Turkoglu led the Kings with 31 points on 12-15 shooting.

Nuggets play at home vs. Seattle on Saturday.

The race for the top spot in the Western Conference has turned into a four-team horse race between the Mavericks, Sacramento, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers. Only 2 1/ 2 games separate the four teams, with each one jockeying for the best position heading into next month's playoffs.

The Mavericks appear to have the toughest remaining schedule because they play nine of their final 15 games on the road. That includes playing four sets of back-to-back games and going against 11 teams whose won-lost record is above .500.

"We went through our easy period about a week and a half ago, so now we're in one of our toughest positions of the year," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "San Antonio just went through an easy stretch, and now they're getting that tough schedule just like we are."

Former Fab Five teammates at Michigan face off in tonights Nuggets @ Kings game.  The Nuggets have lost all three games vs. the Kings this season.

The Nuggets travel to Sacramento to take on the Kings.  The Nuggets have lost 6 games in a row for the third time this season, hopefully they can learn from last night's lopsided defeat.  The Kings own the best home record in the league.

McDyess probably won't see time in tonights contest.  The Nuggets have been holding him out of back to back games.  

Tim Hardaway may be getting his wish to leave Denver and play back-up for a contender following this season.

The Sacramento Kings jogged. The Rockets ran with everything they had, straining to keep pace. And for a few minutes, they might have felt like they were in the race. They weren't. The Kings were able to blow past whenever the mood struck and eventually settled for a 110-87 trot past the Rockets on Tuesday night before 17,317 at Arco Arena.

The loss was the Rockets' 10th in their past 11 meetings with the Kings and gave them a three-game losing streak since their season-best three-game winning streak last week.

It also severely dented their hopes of measuring up to the Western Conference powers on the road trip, particularly when also considering their 36-point loss on their previous trip to Sacramento.

The Mavericks, according to USA Basketball director of men's programs Sean Ford, were "a logical choice" to host one of the two exhibitions. But ...

"We have a great relationship with the Mavericks, but we've kind of agreed that maybe it's best for both of us to look elsewhere," Ford said.

"No big deal either way," said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. "We hadn't made any final plans to [pursue an exhibition]."

Sacramento is another logical candidate for one of the games, with Kings forwards Peja Stojakovic (Yugoslavia) and Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey) surely able to sell tickets leading their respective national teams against Team USA.