AROUND THE NBA : Injuries Put Pressure on Kings’ Rookies

Coach Dick Motta expects things to get worse for the Sacramento Kings before they get better.

The Kings lost starter Antoine Carr to an injury for at least 10 days during Tuesday’s 102-85 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Motta was counting on veterans Wayman Tisdale and Carr to help carry the Kings while Sacramento worked to rebuild the franchise around four first-round draft picks. A dislocated pinky finger on Carr’s left hand changed all of that.

“We’ll give (Duane) Causwell and all the other young players a chance to play,” Motta said. “If we’re floundering, we might as well as give the young kids a chance to grow up.”

Motta doesn’t expect too much help, though, from first-round pick Anthony Bonner who is still sidelined with a left foot stress fracture.

Sacramento has lost nine straight games dating back to April 10. The Kings are 0-3 so far this season. They play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday.

“I’m sure everyone will bring up the fact we’ve lost 41 straight times to Los Angeles,” Motta said.

Dallas forward Roy Tarpley is getting a lot of questions about his weight these days.

That’s not a good sign, but at least it’s an improvement over what he used to get asked about--his two trips to drug rehabilitation.

Tarpley, whose health is the key to the Dallas Mavericks’ success, reported to training camp a month ago nearly 30 pounds over last year’s listed weight of 240 pounds. He says he’s at 260 now, about 10 pounds more than he wants to weigh, but insists it’s unrealistic to expect him to stay at 240.

“Everyone has been basing what I should weigh on my first years in the league, like I’m supposed to stay the same weight my whole career,” Tarpley said.