Cuban was able to get the crowd to make his arena loud, but the Kings' trainers are at a loss as to why the arena floor was so injury-causing for the Kings.
. .

WOW

Critic

I saw all of the 2d half and some of the first half and that was as tough as I've ever seen the Kings play. HUGE win and it was a team effort. Vlade put his mind, body and heart out there and dominated inside with all three. Webber was banging and moving to the hole w/o the ball time after time and was boarding and setting picks -- he played POWER forward tonight and even a few minutes at Center. Bibby was awesome and hit not only a lot of shots but a lot of BIG shots at critical moments and moved the ball to the right spot time after time and worked his little butt off on defense. It may have been the best game of his life, certainly the best I've ever seen him play. Christie came back from the dead and not only played his usual high-energy D and loose ball game, but also was coldly efficient as an undertaker with his shot and he just ignored his injury and kept moving -- give him a purple heart. Jackson played well. Pollard played really well. Turkoglu played some D, boxed out and hustled and stayed within the game plan. And, that could have been the best coaching job I've ever seen from Rick Adelman. His substitutions seemed to always be well timed. When CWebb had a period where he was getting beat in transition, RA subbed for him and a few minutes later CWebb came back in ready to run again. He kept the offensive focus on an inside-out game plan that not only got a lot of points inside, but created a lot of open looks for the shooters. And, every time the Kings had the ball and came out of a time-out, they scored on what had to be a called play. Give the man his due -- the Kings looked well coached tonight. And, Peja may have turned the emotional tide by getting hurt! I think the Kings all reached down and came up with a little more when Peja went out. It was as if they collectively said, "Well, the easy way isn't available anymore, so we're gonna have to do it the hard way," -- and then DID it the hard way. Congrats to Kings on an awesome effort all the way around. HCA is theirs again.

Josef de Jesus

This is the "Game" that we have not seen for a very long time.

Sad to say that one team had to lose that game last night. Both teams (Sacramento Kings & Dallas Mavericks) are the finest and the flashiest outside of Los Angeles Lakers.

I would love to lavish with praise, my favorite Kings, by awarding them some titles.

Bibby the Best
Doug the Magnificent
Chris the Nemesis
Vlade the Bloody
Peja the Irk Dirk
Bobby the Boogie
Scot the Spark
Hedo the Kiddo
Gerald the Rook
&
Coach the Boss

I'm sure there would be ample supply of accolades coming to Sacramento Kings' camp. Coming from faithful believers, new believers and even nonbelievers. Just like that. One game changed the landscape of opinions.

I read so many articles about last night. One thing was missing or probably I just missed. This is about a forgotten hero that never got the limelight because his team lost.

I give my kudos to Michael Finley for a tough night. This offensive juggernaut repeatedly said "no" to the storm that came from Sacramento. Single-handedly, plus a big help from LaFrentz, he mustered 37 points from 13-23 FG & 10-11 FT. What a night for him. He scared the flashy Sacramentans by scoring 6 points at the end of the game that reduced the 9
point lead of Kings down to 3. Luckily for our team, The Kings showed resiliency, maturity, experience & "Bibby" and stopped Finley.

Maybe some of you did not see the postgame press conference last night that was fully broadcast on NBA.TV. It was very dramatic especially for the Mavs' organization. I saw Coach Don Nelson delivered his facts-of-life-for-Mavs message and his praises for the Sacramento Kings. He even called the Kings "probably the best team in the NBA."

What was heartbreaking to see was that moment when Mike Finley arrived at the podium for postgame quotes. Just when he was about to sit and asked if there were questions for him, for a brief moment of silence, he left with his head bowed in disgrace. He never answered no one. He felt dejected. A hero that never got the prize.

But in my book, he was a hero.

And a hero that was overwhelmed by a number of heroes of the other side.

Back to serious business, Kings and Kings' fans. This series is not over. We still have to win two more over the Mavs to reach our first Western Conference Finals. We could continue this saga with a win on Saturday.

That, anyway, has been our trademark in our playoffs' history. We win one and lose one at home. Then, we win two on the road.

This win, as great as we can recall, will only mean so much if the Kings could compliment it with another road win on Saturday. Then, we got a big chance to close at home, with or without cowbells.

Could this be our crowning year? Time will tell if it is our time.

10 more ? the dream continues.

john114AAA

Bell...bell.....that ain't no stinkin bell....
Bell....you call that a bell....now this is a bell....

ARCO was relatively quiet and respectful after requests were made....Dallas and Cuban have no idea what noise really is....they will hear and FEEL the ROAR on Monday night....

AS Cuban said...what comes around goes around...
As C-Webb said....that wasn't even loud....

Barkley used to be the ROUND MOUND of REBOUND....
now he is the rounder mound of mouth with no brain...

His comments about were is the defense are so out of context....Stern had to be quivering in his chair listening to that idiot spout off about one of the most exciting NBA games in the last 10 years.

Winning is what counts and the Kings can win playing a slug it out game and series like they had with the Jazz or they can win with a high flying high scoring shoot out like the glory days of basketball.

The fans want this type of ball back and David Stern finally gets it...too bad that so many of the media and players from the boring 90's NBA, during which individuals became more important than teams, they are stuck on empty....

They were probably still buying Enron when it was well over a 100...

This Dallas vs. Kings match up could be the future of the NBA.... and bet that Mr. Stern is taking notice .... any more games like this one and the NBA rating will start to climb again.... as long as fans do not have to watch another laker boring game... with Shaq running over people and kobe with his nose up in the air trying to get it up higher than phil Jackson's......

GO KINGS ..... I am one long time fan that hopes and prays that this team can lead the NBA back to a more fun game with teams and not spoiled players being the focus....

Speaking of which....wow, Christie pulled a Willis Reed out of the archives...except instead of retiring to the bench to watch his team win on inspiration, he, Christie, took over in the 4th with 16 huge points....what an incredibly gutty performance...

To hell with the individual NBA awards...the Kings are a TEAM....a real, old fashioned TEAM....

GO KINGS..... GO KINGS....

Hallama

Oh, the sweet smell of Victory

For two games at least...

Bibby: so the kid can play in the playoffs. How could the Kings not resign him if he keeps up this kind of play when it counts most.

Christie: talk about a game to remember. Sums of Christie's season as the team's MVP. (Really.)

Webber: 0 TO's with all those other numbers, oh, this is the Webber the Kings need. He is just a monster in the paint when he decides to be there. Great game Webb.

Vlade: with him and Webber in the game together, there hasn't been a better duo since Donny & Marie. He plays well when he doesn't defer to Webber or Peja.

Hedo: secret weapon #5 when he starts. Time to buckle up kid, here's your chance.

Pollard: Pollard 9, Wang 7. lol. The new "point a minute" man. RA, couldn't you just find a few, a couple teensy weensy minutes for Scot? Please?

the rest: keep on truckin'.

...I've got to admit, I was thinking Webber was going to have another one of his less than stellar 4th quarters when he reentered the game, looked out of sync, didn't want the ball (looked like he just wanted to set picks for Bibby), and threw away a pass to Christie under the basket (Christie must've been charged with the TO, but Webber zinged it in to him with too much mustard).

...but, the man came up big. Rebounds, a little D, and a couple lay-ups and the nail in the coffin jumper.

Great job. Turned my frown upside down.

GHorsey

Just some of my infrequent observations and comments.

1. One of the funnest games to watch in the playoffs in the past few years. Lots of pace, back and forth.

2. Kings D on Dirk has been strong throughout the series thus far. Peja, up until he turned the ankle has been playing excellent D and probably impacting his offense production. Hedo did the same and the double team has taken Dirk out of his normal offensive flow. Anyone (Lakers in 2001 & Barkley) who says no defense is being played isn't watching the same game I am seeing. Kings frequently double Nash, Van Exel, and Dirk. Mavs get credit for LaFraenz and Finley stepping up as they had opportunities because of the defensive scheme.

3. Bobby's slap of Dirk was a reaction to Dirk's elbow (2 times) and if he gets suspended, so should Dirk. We'll see what happens there. Should have been a double T.

4. I wear DC's #13 because of just what he brings. He isn't the most skilled player but he is one of the scrappiest guys around. I am so proud of what he did last night.

5. Chris, just keep doing it. His PR isn't deserved when you see so many things. Big block in the 4th, makes a couple of key shots. Plays tough D at critical times. Numbers have improved in each game. The Mavs have no answer except to try to get something stirred up by Bradley. That won't win the series, Don.

6. RA needs to go with a broader rotation and last night was a lot better than game 2. But don't forget in the playoffs there are no back to backs, and a lot more "mandated" timeouts. While rotations tend to shorten up in the playoffs part of the reason is because they can be, given the day or two or three between games, and extra time-outs in each game.

Great game to watch, and a great series too. Kings can win scoring 125 or 86 (Utah) in either style. This is a team that can win it all if they keep it up. Go Kings!!!