Did you think the first score you saw was a mistake?

The Kings really did beat the Lakers Sunday. Once again, the Kings beat the Lakers.

That said, we knew all along they weren't invincible, especially against the Kings. The Lakers did win the season series 3-1, but the three victories were by a grand total of 11 points. Besides, Lakers coach Phil Jackson wanted his team to lose a game. Always one to shake things up, Jackson knows the team needed some adversity early in the playoffs so they would be tougher later.

An easy time could mean problems in the finals.

"I'm personally very happy about it," Jackson said in the postgame press conference. "Because of the way we were playing, we need another ballgame, anyway. And besides that, the next (series) wouldn't start until Sunday."

Granted, he was mostly being facetious, especially about being "happy about it." He did have a valid point about having to wait a week to play again, just as the Knicks and Heat have until Sunday for Game 1 of their second round series. And it does behoove teams to continue playing to maintain the competitive edge.

But there are those who wouldn't put it past Jackson to create some turmoil just to energize the team and prevent them from getting cocky or complacent. He so often fostered problems on the Bulls during their six championship seasons, picking on Horace Grant for the first three and Toni Kukoc the second three.

Now he has got to figure out another method, although losing a game to the Kings happens to be a good start. More important, the Kings' victory points out a flaw the Lakers have overcome all season because Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are so dominant. They are undermanned at power forward with 36-year-old A.C. Green and athletic-but-slim Robert Horry.

Neither can handle Kings All-Star Chris Webber. And if Kings coach Rick Adelman doesn't spend more time emphasizing how the ball should go through Webber every time down the floor, he needs his head examined. The good news is he went with Tony Delk at point guard late and the game turned around for the Kings; Delk had 11 points and no turnovers in 22 minutes.

"I told the guys, 'It's now or never for us.' I didn't want it to end," Delk said. "I wanted to extend the series and I didn't want to go home yet."

Just like everybody else, we think young Kings point guard Jason Williams is a kick to watch with his retro-Pistol Pete style, but he has cost them way too many games and possessions, and frankly, he's just not a guy you want running your offense very long during the playoffs. Delk and Darrick Martin are much more sane.

So Sunday's 99-91 victory by the Kings was no accident. Come Tuesday night, we'll see what kind of stuff Webber is made up of on the heels of a 29-point, 14-rebound, eight-assist performance.

"We're going out to win," Webber said. "If you don't think that's what I'm all about, you don't know me very well."

Taking the sixth

As the Phoenix Suns continue to work hard to knock off the defending champion Spurs, taking a 2-1 lead into Tuesday's Game 4 in America West Arena, perhaps the key component to their offensive surge these days isn't even in the starting lineup.

Not surprisingly, Rodney Rogers won the NBA's Sixth Man Award Monday, getting 104 of the 121 votes from the national media, with Cuttino Mobley light years away in second with seven votes and Tracy McGrady getting three votes for third. At 6-7, 255 pounds, Rogers is an odd combination of power and exceptional shooting range, which caused Spurs forward Mario Elie to dub Rogers "the monster."

He was the sleeper free agent last summer after wasting away for four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers following two years in Denver. Rogers was the ninth overall pick by the Nuggets in the 1993 draft from Wake Forest, where he was a second team All-American.

Initially, coach Scott Skiles wasn't interested in Rogers, 28, because he had gotten so out of shape with the Clippers, where he had just lost his edge. But he was in great condition this season, came on big time and contributed right away. And with Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta and Rex Chapman all out of the series with injuries, Rogers is a key offensive element with Penny Hardaway, Cliff Robinson and rookie Shawn Marion. Skiles had some thoughts of starting him instead of the Marion, a rookie, but this has worked out just fine.

"I think Scott was more content with me coming off the bench, because I brought some energy off," Rogers said. "And it helped get guys going who were probably having a little trouble getting it going early. I probably thought he was going to put me in the starting lineup, but it really doesn't matter. I just do whatever it takes for the team to win."

They are and so is he.

Shots from the perimeter

• Kings assistant coach Pete Carril remains hospitalized after suffering a heart attack Saturday. Although it wasn't life-threatening, and he is expected to be released soon, he is not expected back on the bench this week.
• After beating the Bucks Saturday, the Pacers raised their record to 19-0 against teams that had beaten them in the previous meeting.
• The fallout in Toronto is just beginning for the Raptors after they were swept by the Knicks. Point guard Doug Christie will issue an ultimatum, either coach Butch Carter goes or he wants out; so Christie probably will be traded. Free agent Tracy McGrady wasn't about to comment about his waving to the fans, as if that was his last game in a Raptors uniform. People expect him to sign with Orlando or Chicago or be a part of a sign-and-trade, although he does seem to be one of those who actually likes Carter.
• By the way, could it be that Latrell Sprewell is becoming that "spring kind of player?" He took the Knicks all the way to the NBA Finals last season before coming up just short and shut down Vince Carter (15-of-50 shooting) as the Knicks swept the Raptors. Funny how that trade talk about Sprewell has vanished.
• Kings center Vlade Divac won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, following his efforts last summer. He collected $500,000 and 10,000 gifts and all proceeds from his three-week basketball camp in Sacramento went to the people of his native Serbia.
• The NBA's new developmental league, which will be unveiled in the fall of 2001, will have one of six teams competing in the 2000 Asian Basketball Association League. The team, called the NBA Ambassadors, will be one of two squads representing Hong Kong and will participate in a six-week competition against teams from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They will play a 20-game regular season June 8-July 7, with players and coaches to be named soon.
• Following the weekend, Karl Malone leads in playoff scoring at 34.3 points per game and field-goal percentage (62.5), with Shaquille O'Neal leading rebounders at 17.7. John Stockton is tops in assists (11.3).
• The conference semifinals start Saturday, with the only possibility of Friday night games being a Game 5 for the Lakers-Kings or Sonics-Jazz series. Everything else will end on Thursday at the latest. The only game scheduled for the weekend so far is the opener of the Knicks-Heat series Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (ET) in Miami. The NBA Finals will start June 4 at the earliest and June 7 at the latest.
• June 21 is the last possible date they could conclude. The NBA Draft is June 28 in Minneapolis.