ESPN NBA

The Sacramento Kings have come up empty against Pacific Division opponents all season, but a meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers might end that drought.

The Kings seek their first win against a divisional opponent, while handing the struggling Clippers their seventh straight defeat when they meet on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Sacarmento (27-33) remained the only team without a win in its own division after a 117-105 loss to Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Kevin Martin and Ron Artest each scored 23 points, while Brad Miller added 14 and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who are 0-8 within their division this season.

The Kings had the advantage for the majority of the game, but could not contain the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who scored 17 of his 34 points in the final 5:56.

"Tough loss," Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said after the Kings' fifth defeat in six games. "We outplayed them for 40, 42 minutes."

The Kings also will be trying to end their road woes. They have dropped four straight away from Sacramento -- their longest since a nine-game slide from Oct. 31-Dec. 12.

Sacramento has lost both meetings against the Clippers (19-39) this season, including a 111-85 defeat on Jan. 23 in Los Angeles. The Kings are 2-4 versus the Clippers over the last two seasons since winning 14 straight against them from March 27, 2003-Nov. 28, 2006.

The Clippers, however, will be looking to salvage the final matchup of their three-game homestand after a 106-80 loss to Philadelphia on Monday. Rookie Al Thornton led Los Angeles with 20 points, and Corey Maggette had 16 and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who also lost seven in a row from Nov. 23-Dec. 5.

Los Angeles -- losers of five straight at home -- committed 18 turnovers, which Philadelphia converted into 27 points.

"There were too many turnovers, and I had the majority of them," said Thornton, who had 10 turnovers after totaling five or fewer in his first 54 NBA games. "You can't make too many mistakes against a team like this that gets into transition, because that turns into easy points."

Still, Thornton is averaging 16 points during the Clippers' skid, but got his first start in that stretch on Monday.

"We start him every opportunity we get," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We don't want to put him in bad matchups, because we want to keep building his confidence. So we'll manage that as we go."

On Monday, center Chris Kaman had 10 points and five rebounds in his second game back after missing the previous four because of a sore lower back, but according to the Clippers' official Web site, he is listed as doubtful for Wednesday's game.

Kaman had 20 points and 21 rebounds, and Thornton had 23 points off the bench against the Kings in January.