Chance for the Inn Crowd to Get a Jump on Summer

Never a doubt, although I do have concerns.

I called the Holiday Inn on J Street, concerned that local basketball fanatics might be looking to leap off one of Sacramento’s best-known landmarks after Sunday’s shocking finish.

“Not yet,” said J.B. Villalovos, the night manager. “There are a couple more games left, and then we will see what happens.”

Two more Laker wins, and all those cowbells are going to be scrap metal and I fear for the mental health of those yokels who had to think they would be attending a playoff-clinching game Tuesday in Arco Arena after watching the Kings go ahead by 24 points Sunday.

“That’s got to be disappointing for those people,” a sympathetic Rick Fox said. “They had to think they had a win, which would have put them in the driver’s seat. But the way we won it, we kind of kicked them out of the car.”

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THE LAKER comeback really started with Samaki Walker’s three-point shot from 34 feet with less than a second remaining in the first half to bring the Lakers within 14 points. Robert Horry had the choice of throwing the ball to Kobe Bryant or Walker for the shot, and obviously Horry went to the better three-point shooter.

“I’m two for two now in my career,” Walker said. “I hit one in the final seconds against San Antonio a while back.”

I’m not sure Bryant has ever hit two three-pointers in a row in his career.

He was 0 for 1 against the Kings, and required an IV following the game. After all, it is a long way to have to shoot the ball.

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IN THE Laker locker room after the game, a breathless Fred Roggin told Walker he was live on TV, and then asked, “What were you thinking when you took that three-pointer before the half?”

Walker said, “Make the shot.”

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KOBE APPEARED at the postgame news conference decked out in red--his Tiger Woods Sunday-victory-clinching look.

He was wearing red shoes, red-tipped sunglasses and a red and white Red Sox jersey with pitcher Pedro Martinez’s No. 45 on the back. Last week he wore a Derek Jeter Yankee jersey.

“I’m not a baseball fan,” he said, “but I like individual talent like Jeter and Pedro have.”

I asked him if the Dodgers had any individual talent.

“Yeah, the guy you were bashing all last week, and who made major league history this week,” he said.

I know one thing, Shawn Green would never wear red shoes in public.

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THE BIGGEST issue facing the Lakers as they prepare to leave for Sacramento tonight is who will be food tester for Kobe.

Isn’t that why they still have Mitch Richmond on the roster?

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I WONDER if Bill Walton is saying “My Los Angeles Lakers” today?

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DEREK FISHER has hit 35 of the 109 shots he has attempted in the playoffs and 18 of the 57 three-point shots he’s tried. It’s almost to the point now that Times handicapper Bob Mieszerski has hit more long shots than Fisher, and Mieszerski almost never hits it big.

The Lakers have missed 153 of the 240 shots they’ve taken in the last 10 quarters against the Kings. And Slava Medvedenko hasn’t even taken a shot yet.

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THERE WERE 11.8 seconds remaining with the Lakers trailing by two, and an older gentleman, you know, about sports editor Bill Dwyre’s age, left his courtside seat with a beautiful young girl, who I’m sure was his daughter, to beat the crowd out of the arena. I would imagine that’s one guy who has never watched “Survivor.”

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LAKER OWNER Jerry Buss hangs around with young girls too, but he showed staying power Sunday, not only hanging in there for the whole game, but making his way to the locker room afterward to congratulate the players.

“I can’t remember all the games, but at this moment, that was the most exciting game I’ve ever seen,” Buss said.

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THE KINGS were making a big deal out of the “lucky” turn of events that had the Lakers winning, and when a reporter asked Chris Webber to clarify his remarks, he said, “I know everyone in here wants to beat me up.”

Putting aside an acute case of paranoia for a moment, I think if you took a vote, everyone in there would have been satisfied just getting the chance to meet Tyra Banks.

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THE FIRST sign of a crack in the Kings’ drive to close out the Lakers: They went 0 for 8 in the second half from three-point range.

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SOMETIMES IT takes years to build a champion.

“Thank God,” Shaquille O’Neal said, “[Horry’s] father met his mother.”

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Don Rickles topped the celebrity list for Friday’s loss; wouldn’t you like to have been in his car on the way home listening to him talk about the Lakers’ performance?

Will Smith, who looks like Horry, and Denzel Washington, who’s as old as Horry, were the top celebrities in the crowd Sunday.

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I’M TRYING to get confirmation that Staples concession sales went up 10% the last two days. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus was in Staples the last two games writing columns for The Times.

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IT WAS very hard to hear in Staples Center because of crowd noise when our Dodger beat reporter in Arizona called to tell me that “Kevin Brown was feeling pain in the posterior of his elbow.” At first I thought he said, “Kevin Brown was a pain in the posterior,” and I didn’t see where that was news and worth bothering me at the Laker game.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Jason A:

“Please tell me you will be joining the Lakers in Sacramento so we can give you the proper welcome in our cow town.”

That stuff is so hard to get off your shoes, so I think I’ll stay home and watch the game on TV.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.