Season on the Brink

What Robert Horry wrought, Mike Bibby leveled with the jump shot that pushed the Lakers to the edge of elimination Tuesday night.

They will play Friday night at Staples Center only for the chance to keep playing, to continue the defense of two NBA titles they played seven months to make three.

With Shaquille O’Neal having fouled out and all of Arco Arena sure it was Kobe Bryant’s game to decide, Bryant missed from 18 feet as time expired.

The Sacramento Kings defeated the Lakers, 92-91, because Bibby’s open 22-footer, with Derek Fisher on the floor before him and 8.2 seconds remaining, was true, just as Horry’s three-pointer was two days before. And Bryant, who appeared to tire in the final possessions, could not answer.

The Kings, who lead the best-of-seven Western Conference finals, three games to two, are a victory from their first NBA Finals in 51 years, when the franchise was based in Rochester. Game 7, if the Lakers force it, would be here Sunday afternoon.

After the game, King co-owner Gavin Maloof incited the crowd from atop the scorer’s table, and Vlade Divac threw kisses, and a once-downtrodden organization was on the brink of something new too, and perhaps not expected.

Off an out-of-bounds play, Bibby, more than the Laker backcourt could handle for five games, cut around a Chris Webber screen with 10 seconds left and the Kings behind, 91-90. Already he had made two free throws that drew the Kings to within one point 35 seconds before, and then Webber gave him the ball and blocked Fisher and watched Bibby release the ball.

“I think that there are a lot of people on this team who could have taken the last shot,” Bibby said. “I’m just happy to be the one to hit it. I told Chris that if he handed the ball out to me, I was going to make it.”

The Lakers are a loss from what they once--and perhaps still--believed was unthinkable, a season that ends before June. As this town hurled itself at a victory that gets them close, four-quarter close, the Lakers walked glumly away.

“It’s going to be another war on Friday,” King Coach Rick Adelman said.

The Lakers could at least muster that, in their first elimination game since Game 7 of the 2000 conference finals.

Bibby scored 23 points and Webber had 29. The Kings scored the final four points, from a 91-88 deficit, and Bryant missed his last four shots and seven of his final eight. The Lakers again felt shorted by the officials here, and believed Bryant, who scored 30 points on 29 shots, was fouled on the final play.

“You guys saw the replay,” Bryant said somberly. “There’s no need for me to comment on that. It’s irrelevant at this point.”

Bryant’s shot hit the rim, long, with less than a second left. He turned from the right side, 18 feet away, and shot, his jersey fluttering and Bobby Jackson’s hand in his face.

“Just went a little long,” he said.

Bryant had time. From out of bounds, and from a one-point deficit, the basketball went from Rick Fox to Robert Horry to Bryant, on the right wing. Bryant jab-stepped and Jackson reached forward, grabbing Bryant’s jersey, which ripped from his shorts. Bryant reset and then went up for the shot, which was flat, like a handful of others down the stretch.

“Just fell short for the Kobe-ster,” said O’Neal, who was granted one free-throw attempt in 32 minutes, missed it, and scored 28 points.

Jackson dashed straight up the floor, leaped and punched the air. The Kings hugged. Team owners loosened their ties and rejoiced.

“It’s one of those things,” Adelman said. “Either he makes it or misses it.”

O’Neal spent the last 3:22 with a towel over his shoulders, another on his lap. He made his final eight shots, and then sat after he fouled Bibby in the lane, his sixth. The Lakers scored six points after that, and held leads of 85-80, 87-85, 89-88 and then 91-88, when Samaki Walker made two free throws.

Phil Jackson feared Bryant fatigued under the weight of last week’s illness, and 45 minutes played--none defending Bibby--and then carrying the offense without O’Neal.

“I felt pretty good,” Bryant said. “My shots were falling short. Some looks were better than others. Would those shots fall if I was completely healthy? I don’t know.”

Asked how his jersey got pulled from his shorts, Bryant half-smiled and said, “On that last play? He pulled it out.”

The Lakers were incensed. They believed the game should have concluded with Bryant at the free-throw line, shooting for the win. They believed O’Neal should have gone to that same line more than once.

Not four minutes into the third quarter, O’Neal and Bryant each had four fouls.

Jackson left them both in the game, and the Kings lowered their shoulders and went to the rim. Generally, the Lakers let them go.

“We definitely got bad breaks,” Horry said. “But, that’s one of the advantages of having home-court advantage. We’re one game from being eliminated. But we’ve been in that situation before.”