Kings coach Eric Musselman pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested in October after his team won its preseason home opener.

Musselman must pay $580 in fines and penalties, said Lana Wyant, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. He was ordered to spend 48 hours on a work project and participate in a first-offender program. He will serve three years on informal probation after he completes the program.

The third time wasn't the charm for the New Jersey Nets, who will be haunted all season by a bizarre stretch of one-point defeats on this California trip.

Cuttino Mobley made a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 102-101 victory over New Jersey on Thursday night. The Nets were beaten Monday at Sacramento by a jumper by Mike Bibby with 10.3 seconds remaining, then at the buzzer on a 17-footer by Golden State's Monta Ellis on Wednesday.

"In this league, you've got to expect anything and everything," Jason Kidd said. "We've put ourselves in a position to win, and we've come up short by a point in the last three games. It's not like we're getting blasted by 20 and you're searching for what we need to do. For us, it's just been the last 30 seconds and the ball hasn't bounced our way."

The Sacramento Kings waived veteran forward Maurice Taylor on Tuesday after 12 games with the club.

Ron Artest had something special for the fans of Detroit in his first game there since the legendary 2004 incident; a Mohawk.

To prevent a repeat of the events on Nov. 19, 2004, a few arena security guards were near Sacramento's bench in addition to the usual sight of a police officer, arena and team security.

The Pistons won the game 91-74.

Carmelo Anthony was supposed to be back on the court Saturday, but a postponed game extended his suspension another two days. So now he can watch another highly anticipated return of a brawler: Ron Artest, back at Detroit.

"It's going to be crazy," Anthony said. "They might boo him (like) crazy out there. I can't wait to see that game."

Artest can't, either. Sacramento's visit to the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday night is his first game in Detroit since the brawl between Indiana Pacers players and Pistons fans on Nov. 19, 2004.

"I haven't played there in a long time and it's going to be a fun environment," he said earlier this week. "I'm looking forward to Detroit."

The Kings are 14-21 and have lost six in a row, but Ron Artest believes that things will soon changes.

"We're not struggling, we're just fine," said Artest. "We're not struggling; we're going to win now. We were just playing around a little bit."

Jason Hart has played in just 12 out of 35 games this season and his agent, Bill Neff, says the Kings are mistreating him.

"I asked (coach) Eric (Musselman), whom I've known for a long time, why he wouldn't give Jason a chance, and he said upper management wouldn't let him," the New York-based agent said. "He said he was being told to play" different people.

"So I went to (Kings basketball president) Geoff Petrie and asked him, and he said he's never told a coach who to play. He said he didn't do it when Rick (Adelman) was here, and he hasn't done it with Eric. So I went back to Eric and asked him again, and he insisted upper management wanted him to play (John) Salmons and (Quincy) Douby."

The Sacramento Kings signed forward Justin Williams to a 10-day contract, Kings? President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie announced today.

The Seattle Sonics signed Sioux Falls forward Andre Brown to a 10-day contract earlier today and Fort Worth guard Kelenna Azubuike was signed by Golden State on Jan. 2. In all, 51 players have been called up 71 times since the league began play in 2001-02.

The Lakers attempted to acquire Ron Artest last winter when the Pacers had him on the block, but they are reportedly not interested this time around.

When trade rumors began popping up this season, the Lakers were one of the clubs mentioned.

Dakota Wizards rookie Justin Williams is preparing for another shot in the NBA.

The 6-10 center-forward from Wyoming, who was Dakota's
first-round pick in this year's NBA Development League draft, expects to sign a 10-day contract Friday with the Kings.

Williams is leading the D-League in rebounds with 12, blocked shots with 3 and has averaged 12 points in 12 games. He said earlier he hoped his strong play would earn him an opportunity once NBA teams were allowed to offer 10-day deals.