Sacramento 114, Los Angeles Lakers 113

Sunday's best game can't end with observers blaming the Lakers, even after Los Angeles gave up 71 first half points as the Kings were nailing some tough, tough shots. Sacramento attacked the paint, and Phil Jackson used this one to see what he had in various unheralded lineups.

It's a Jackson trademark, and it almost always pays off in May or June. He tries to see what he has with certain future Hall of Famers on the bench; and while it might tick off the fans in March and April, they'll reflect fondly on the experiment in the Conference Finals.

This hardly takes away from Sacramento's effort. The team offered up its usual 20 turnovers, but it also nailed a series of tough shots, and didn't wilt as the Lakers made their expected second half comeback.

Kings coach Reggie Theus was smart to stick with rookie Spencer Hawes (14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, four blocks in almost 24 minutes) in the fourth. Lefty Beno Udrih (25 and 10 assists) did well in spite of being forced to his right (sometimes, as you'll see to your right) nearly every time down court, and the Kings managed to overcome a Laker team that managed 29 assists on 41 field goals.

(Of course, had Los Angeles made any one of the - by my count - seven open treys they missed, things would have been different.)

Laker fans might be upset at Udrih nailing the game-winning free throws after a tough call that sent Beno to the line after colliding with Sasha Vujacic. They should also know that Pau Gasol hit Los Angeles' final bucket after (by my slow-motion count) being in the lane from the 19.8-second to 15.6-second mark.

Toronto 114, Seattle 106

The Raptors, even with Chris Bosh on the sidelines saving the knee he pushes off on for the spring run, are just too darned potent to keep down for 48 minutes at a time. Like a slow-down version of the Phoenix Suns, the Raps can be kept at bay for a spell, but after a while the team's spacing and extra (and extra, and extra ...) passing makes life nearly impossible for any defense, and leads to an open shot as the shot clock dwindles.

Seattle made sure to attack Toronto's porous middle, taking and sustaining an early lead while Chris Wilcox's righty dunks roughed things up a bit, but the Raps slowly came around after the early SuperSonic head start.

A 21 to 10 edge in turnovers for the Raptors didn't hurt. It may have been the difference between a (actual) four-point or (possible) 15-point halftime edge for Seattle.

Phoenix 94, San Antonio 87

I'd like to take more from this game, but I'm not sure that it's smart to.

We've already seen Shaq's dash into the stands. That was freakin' awesome, and worth the rare living room standing ovation. No snark, there: this was a $20 million man making a point to try and grab a loose ball - not for show - and then making a point to miss the pair of pre-teens in the front row whilst bounding towards the expensive seats. Nice.

Other than that, it was an inspiring Suns win that the cynic in me can't help but think means little. The team worked its tail off, defended from the beginning, but it hardly felt like the sort of home game we'd see against San Antonio in the playoffs - assuming the two teams met up.

I mean, what's the fluke? The nine previous games where they gave up 113.2 points on average? Or the one where they gave up 87? I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'm hoping I've turned the corner. Everything I've learned about the game, up to this point, tells me that I'm right. I'm hoping I'm wrong.

ABC's presentation, by the way, continues to laugh in my face. I don't mind a batch of classic rock favorites leading us in to the commercial break, but does Disney have to scan the most-played list for each of its bumper sounds?

"Back in Black?" "Thriller?" "Hard Day's Night?" "Low Rider?" "Smells Like Teen Spirit?" It sounds like the playlist that a 12 year-old boy would asked be played at his funeral. "Happy Birthday" and the Chicken Dance were probably being saved for overtime.

I do admit that the placement of the Kinks' "Wish I Could Fly Like Superman" was pretty cool. Why not play that at every single timeout?

Also, how is it that Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy can take seemingly opposite sides of a simple argument, and both come out completely wrong?

Philadelphia 119, Milwaukee 97

A pretty simple exercise in aggression: Philly came out looking to attack the paint, and take advantage of a Milwaukee team they saw as uncaring in the midst of an anonymous mid-March matinee setup.

The Bucks couldn't counter, didn't want to counter, and the team (full of high-priced talent, and playing at home) fell short to a 76ers outfit that was designed to rebuild, while playing on the road.

By my estimation, 115 of Philadelphia's 119 points came off of dunks and lay-ins.

Detroit 116, Chicago 109

Chicago was out-rebounded by a 42-28 edge, and while I'm no NBA genius, I think the fact that Bulls small forward Andres Nocioni (one rebound in nearly 29 minutes) played about 98 percent of his time at power forward may have had a bit to do with that.

(I was chomping at the bit to make that point even before I saw the post-game stats. I just assumed that Noc brought in at least a half-dozen rebounds, in spite of being forced to play long stretches out of position. As it was, he pulled in one rebound in 28:57. Tyrus Thomas played less than four minutes, mainly because Jim Boylan hates winning, but loves martyrdom.)

Detroit did well to keep Chicago at bay, while using long stretches of a competitive game to see what it had in its bench, along with new addition Theo Ratliff. Ratliff, who first made noise as a Piston while nearly costing the team a chance to acquire Otis Thorpe in 1995 (ask your uncle) with a bit of tampering, finished with ten points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.

Seriously, there's a working NBA coach who thinks that a C/PF combination of Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni is a good idea.

Related: Behind the boxscore