It’s Time to Get Some Separation in This Series

It’s down to a three-game series for the Lakers and Sacramento Kings, which means there’s no more time for excuses.

Phil Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers will be remembered either as champions who brought their “A” game when needed most or as a team whose title run came to a crashing halt.

Rick Adelman, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and the Kings will be remembered either as the group that finally dethroned the two-time NBA champions or as a team destined to always come up a quarter short.

This is NBA playoff pressure at its best. This is the time of year that separated Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird from Dominique Wilkins, John Stockton and George Gervin, skilled players who never played on a championship team.

If we’ve learned anything from the first four games of the Western Conference finals, it is that the Lakers have as much pride as talent and that the Kings still lack a little killer instinct.

But over a seven-game series, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. A breakdown of Game 5:

KINGS’ MOVE--After outplaying the Lakers in two games at Staples Center, the Kings should be upset that they are not up, 3-1. But they are even, and Adelman has to make sure his players have put Sunday’s 100-99 loss behind them before they play their biggest game of the season.

With Webber as a team leader, the Kings always have been a cocky bunch, but they can’t afford to be too overconfident tonight. The worst thing Sacramento can do is start underestimating the Lakers, who are capable of raising their game to a much higher level.

In Games 2, 3 and 4, the Kings looked great when they were knocking down shots as the result of great ball movement and an opportunistic defense. But even though the Kings jumped out to early leads, they faded late in the second halves when the Lakers made things more difficult for Mike Bibby.

If Bryant is called on to defend Bibby as he did Sunday, the Kings should move Bibby to a shooting guard role and have him run around as many screens as possible. This might deplete Bryant’s energy on offense, and backup point guard Bobby Jackson and Webber can run the King offense.

LAKERS’ MOVE--Maybe Jackson should hold an intrasquad scrimmage before the start of tonight’s game. That may be the only way to get the Lakers warmed up in time so they don’t fall behind by double digits in the first quarter as they’ve done in the last two games.

The Lakers should be motivated to use Sacramento’s raucous Arco Arena crowd against the Kings. The Lakers are a veteran team and should know that if the Kings fall behind early, the pressure from their fans will work against them, as it has already in the playoffs. The Kings may have been a beast at Arco during the regular season but they are only 4-3 there this postseason. It’s a potential edge for the Lakers, who love winning crucial playoff games on the road. They did it at Portland and Indiana in 2000 and at Philadelphia last season.

By having Bryant defend Sacramento’s point guards, the Lakers’ intensity on defense immediately picks up. On-the-ball pressure defense makes the Kings work harder to get into their offensive sets and cuts down their time to make the extra pass. It’s important for the Lakers to force Sacramento into tougher shots because the Kings shoot too well when given open looks.

KEY POINTS--The Lakers made strong second-half comebacks in the two games over the weekend because they dominated on the offensive boards. They had 19 offensive rebounds to Sacramento’s 10 in Game 3, which L.A. finished with a 52-46 rebounding edge. Sunday, 25 of the Lakers’ 56 rebounds were on offense, and only eight of the Kings’ 42 were taken at the offensive end.

Give Jackson credit for sticking with his bench. Devean George, Lindsey Hunter, Brian Shaw and Samaki Walker all have been ice-cold shooting, but each is contributing with overlooked plays, such as offensive rebounds. In Game 4, George pulled down seven offensive boards, while Walker and Hunter stepped up with strong second-half minutes.

It will be interesting to see how the series’ bench matchups will be affected if swingman Peja Stojakovic is able to make his first appearance of the series for the Kings.

Stojakovic, sidelined since May 9 because of an ankle sprain, is close to returning and if he does, Hedu Turkoglu would become a force on Sacramento’s second unit.