The Kings take on the Chicago Bulls tonight at 5:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet. It will be the first of two games the Kings play against the Eastern Conference foe. Last season the Kings won the season series 2-0.

The Bulls have shown two different sides of their abilities in their first two contests. On opening night they absolutely dominated in their matchup with the reigning NBA Champion Miami Heat, beating them by 42 points in Miami. The following night the Bulls must have left their game in South Beach, as they lost to the young and improved Orlando Magic by 15 points.

This is the second consecutive game that the Kings opponent is hosting their home opener.

The likely matchups for tonight’s game are:

• PG: Mike Bibby vs. Kirk Hinrich. In addition to his ability to heal quickly, Bibby showed a lot of heart by playing in the Kings season opener. Bibby will look to get back to preseason form when he shot nearly 60 percent from three-point range and 45 percent from the field. Hinrich is one of the 24 young speedy guards that now lead NBA teams. He is a smart player who leads the mix of youth and wisdom on the Bulls.
  
  
• SG: Kevin Martin vs. Ben Gordon. Martin led the Kings in scoring on opening night with 23. Look for the Kings to get him more shots if the rest of the team struggles. Like Martin for the Kings, Gordon can single handedly change the flow of the game if he gets hot. Gordon showed what he is capable of against the Magic, scoring 24 points. But he was only one of five from downtown (he shot below 27 percent from three in the preseason). Hopefully the Kings can keep him off balance and force him into taking difficult shots, because he will keep shooting whether he is feeling it or not.
  
  
• SF: Ron Artest vs. Luol Deng. Artest brought his game to the glass Wednesday night. He had 12 boards and a very impressive five offensive boards. He wants to average at least 10 boards a game. If he can rebound well against the Bulls it will show that Artest’s first game wasn’t an aberration, especially battling the lengthy Deng, and one of the leagues best in Ben Wallace. Deng is a versatile player who is best when slashing to the basket. He is a very capable shooter inside the three-point arc. His long arms make him seem taller than 6’9.” He will probably only play half the game, as the Bulls have another great small forward off the bench in Andres Nocioni. He is an underestimated offensive player and could win Sixth Man of the year this season. He stretches defenses with his three-point prowess.
  
  
• PF: Kenny Thomas vs. PJ Brown. Thomas had 10 rebounds on Wednesday and hopes to be more effective on the offensive end against the Bulls. If he and Shareef Abdur-Rahim are scoring down low the Kings can take away the Bulls focus on Bibby and Martin. Brown tag teams with Ben Wallace with an average age of 34.5 years between the two, while the average age of the other three Bulls starters combines for 23 years. After watching last years playoffs it showed that the Bulls could use some veteran leadership and regularity to the boards. Brown is a strong rebounder and keeps his defender honest with his ability to hit anything from 17 feet in.
  
  
• C: Brad Miller vs. Ben Wallace. The two centers have polar opposite styles of game. Brad Miller is respected as one of the top passing centers and is best on the offensive end with his shooting range. Look for Miller to shoot more mid to outside jumpers to bait Wallace away from the boards where he is so strong. Wallace, the four time defensive player of the year, rarely scores more than 10 points (he averages less than seven points for his career). But what makes Wallace effective is his rebounding ability and shot blocking ability. Wallace also brings an intimidation factor to the lane, because of his bad boy of yester year ways. Wallace is probably the smallest center in the league. He is listed at 6’9” but he said he is closer to 6’5” in height.
  
  
• The Kings showed that they have the ability to play turnover free basketball in the first three quarters against the Timberwolves. The Kings only turned the ball over six times in the first three quarters and were on their way to giving up less than 10 in the game. The fourth quarter was a different story for the Kings.
  
  

Kings Assistant Coach Mark Hughes thoughts on the battle with the Bulls:
“They are a team that has a lot of very good wings. If you look at Ben Gordon, (Andres) Nocioni, Kirk Hinrich, and Louol Deng those guys do a very good job of scoring the basketball on the perimeter. As good as our help defense had to be against Minnesota, it is going to have to be our individual defense that is going to have to be very, very good against the Bulls. Kevin Martin and Ron Artest have to step up and take the challenge and say, ‘I’m not going to let this guy get easy baskets.”

“You look at Ben (Wallace) who has done a terrific job the past few years, who is a great rebounder and defensive player of the year, he comes with a lot of accolades, he’ll bring toughness and experience along with PJ Brown for them in the front court. With Ben you know he is going to block shots and play with energy and enthusiasm. We’re going to try and force him to catch the ball a little higher and challenge his 10-15 foot shots. But if he is shooting those shots, I think that is good for us.”