SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby is expected to miss the first two weeks of the regular season after injuring his right thumb in an exhibition game Sunday night.

Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby, right, collides with Utah Jazz guard Brian Chase, left, during the third quarter of a preseason NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Oct. 20, 2006. The Kings won 112-96. [AP]

Bibby, the Kings' starting point guard and leading scorer last season, has a mallet thumb, an injury in which a finger tendon becomes detached from a bone, preventing the finger from fully extending. Sacramento's team doctors diagnosed the injury Monday after Bibby left the Kings' 117-93 victory over the New Orleans Hornets midway through the third quarter.

Bibby, who averaged 21.1 points and 5.4 assists while playing all 82 games for the Kings last season, will wear a splint for two weeks before returning to practice. The Kings don't expect him to play for at least three weeks.

The injury is even more bad news for the Kings after coach Eric Musselman's arrest on suspicion of drunk driving Friday night.

Sacramento, which hosts the Hornets in an exhibition game Tuesday night, opens its regular season at Minnesota on Nov. 1.