Wind Change…
Everyone knew it was coming; fans, coaches, players, and the media alike.

They knew that the calls that the Kings received in Game Five at ARCO on Tuesday from the officials would most likely go the other direction in Game Six on Friday, in most cases benefiting the defending-champion Lakers at the STAPLES Center as they tried to stave off elimination and force a Game Seven.

And true to form, that’s exactly what happened.

The Lakers, namely Shaquille O’Neal, were aggressive in getting the ball inside and getting the Kings big men in trouble. By the fourth quarter, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, and Scott Pollard all were in foul trouble, with Pollard and Divac eventually fouling out, forcing Kings coach Rick Adelman to play reserve Lawrence Funderburke on O’Neal late in the game.

The Lakers finished the contest 34-of-40 from the free throw line, compared to the Kings’ 18-of-25 from the stripe. In the fourth quarter alone, Los Angeles went to the line 27 times, hitting 21 of their attempts.

“I feel sorry for our team, because they did everything they could to win the game,” said Sacramento coach Rick Adelman. “It's a shame, a real shame. Our big guys get 20 fouls, and Shaq gets four. You tell me. Obviously, they got the game called the way they wanted to get it called. We tried to play through it, but obviously, it was a huge change tonight over the last few games.”

Still, many of the Kings, including Chris Webber, knew that finishing off the Lakers in their own building would not be easy.

"I've heard from some champions that to get to be a champion, you have to go through this, so I was warned,'' said Webber. "It's in the books, and we have to some back ready to play. In no way is this crying.''

Two big plays…
Despite shooting only 41.3% from the field and attempting less free throws than Los Angeles, Sacramento was in the game and had a great opportunity to win, only failing to force overtime when Mike Bibby’s three-pointer missed to the left with three seconds to go.

There were two specific plays during crunch time that hurt the Kings though, and they came back-to-back.

After Bibby had scored on a fast-break lay-up with 3:51 to go to give the Kings a 92-90 lead, Sacramento was able to hold the Lakers defensively and get possession of the ball back with the two-point lead.

On the ensuing play, Chris Webber backed down Robert Horry and turned into the lane, hitting an eight-foot hook shot that would have given the Kings a four-point advantage. The only problem was that Webber was called for a questionable offensive foul in which the replays suggested there was little contact, erasing the points off the board.

On the very next Laker possession, Horry stumbled to the lane and lost control of the ball, whereupon Vlade Divac dove to the floor to try and grab the ball from the Lakers forward, instead picking up his sixth foul and taking the Kings only equalizer for O’Neal out of the game.

A Natural…
O’Neal’s problems at the free-throw line have been well chronicled over his career, but on Friday night the Lakers’ man-in-the-middle had it going from the charity stripe.

The Shaq Daddy went 13-of-17 from the line, and at one point was 10-of-10, making Sacramento pay for fouling him.

"A couple of games in this series, I tried to be cute and stay out of foul trouble,” said O’Neal, “But I decided to play my game, be aggressive, and let the fouls come as they may.''

This is What it’s All About…
After losing to the Lakers last year in the playoffs, the Kings realized that it order to have a shot at taking down the champs, they needed home court advantage in a seven-game series.

As a result, Sacramento won 61 games this year, making sure that if any playoff series came down to a final game seven, it would be at ARCO Arena.

The time is cash in is finally here.

The Kings get to reap the benefits of having the best regular season record by playing for the right to go to the Finals at ARCO on Sunday in front of what should be an absolutely frenzied crowd.

Not only is the Western Conference title on the line, but Sacramento’s claim that the H.C.A. would be necessary to overcome the Lakers.

Here’s hoping they were right.