Their 113-86 victory over Sacramento on Friday night wasn’t so much about trashing the Kings as it was about finishing the first chapter of a four-part play in decisive fashion.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson couldn’t wait to see how his players would respond in the must-win situation, and from start to finish they treated the Staples Center court as if it were the sacred and hallowed grounds that he’s been preaching it to be.

In 144 minutes of first-round basketball here, the Kings held the lead -- which they never had Friday -- for only 11. Now it’s on to the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinals against the Phoenix Suns, which starts here Sunday afternoon.

The Lakers have won 20 of their last 30 games against the Suns over the last seven seasons, including all four games against Phoenix in 1999-2000. Shaquille O’Neal averaged 32.3 points against the Suns this season.

"If we stay true to our colors when we play on that gold-and-purple court, it doesn’t matter what happens -- we’ll win this championship," Jackson said between the first two games last week. "What we have to do is come out on our home floor and defend and play, that’s the basic principle."

Simple. In the worst-case scenario, 15 wins at home will give the Lakers their seventh championship since they moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1960. Three down, 12 to go.

Guard Ron Harper, who helped Jackson win his last three of his six titles in Chicago, all but guaranteed Friday night’s victory. Harper also hoped the notoriously laid-back crowd would leave their tiny ear toys at home.

The sellout crowd of 18,997 was boisterous throughout, showering standing ovations down upon the Lakers at the end of the second and third quarters.

"They must have left their cell phones at home tonight," Harper said. "For us to do a good job, that’s a key. We were very loose in the locker room before the game, then we came out and jumped on them. The guys just felt good tonight."

The Lakers established themselves from the start in Game 5, when Harper took O’Neal’s opening tip downcourt, the ball was moved around and finally dumped into O’Neal, and the likely league MVP sank a short jumper along the left baseline.

Right before the game, Shaq begged Jackson to be the first and only option on the Lakers’ first play.

"He wanted to start the game off right," Jackson said, "and he went right at it."

The Kings shuffled downcourt and settled for a Vlade Divac jumper from the left corner, which was off-target, and the rest is history. About 47 minutes and 30 seconds remained, but the portents were set.

The Lakers established their defense, which is what Jackson has implored since the Kings evened the series Tuesday night in Sacramento. As long as the Kings took jump shots, especially deep ones, the Lakers would live with the consequences.

Chris Webber missed a banker, Jason Williams missed a 3-pointer, Nick Anderson missed a 3-pointer and another jumper, and Webber messed up on an ugly drive. That was six of Sacramento’s first seven possessions.

The Kings were skittish on defense, getting called for playing an illegal defense twice within seconds just 2 1/2 minutes into the game. That’s all O’Neal needed to unclog the middle, and he pounded his way to 32 points and 18 rebounds.

Later in the quarter, the Kings were hit with another illegal defense, and Glen Rice drilled that free throw again. The Lakers closed out the first 12 minutes with a 31-20 lead, winning the opening stanza at home like they did in Games 1 (34-28) and 2 (35-24).

Then they closed out the Kings with a flurry in the first half of the second quarter by scoring on eight of nine possessions. It enabled the Lakers to keep a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Most important, reserve guard Derek Fisher collected six of those 18 points, draining three long shots in a three-minute stretch to keep the Kings’ defense honest. In the two games in Sacramento, the Lakers’ top three substitutes were outscored by the Kings’ top trio 72-11.

Friday, the Kings’ "Bench Mob" only outscored the Lakers’ reserves by a 43-36 margin, as Rick Fox (nine points), and Fisher and Robert Horry (eight apiece) gave Jackson some much-needed punch off the pine.

The Lakers held huge edges over the Kings in rebounding (54-35), assists (31-14) and shooting (52.2 percent to 33.8), of which the latter figure impressed Jackson the most. The Lakers held foes to an NBA-low 41.6 percent shooting during the regular season.

Chris Webber attempts to block a hook shot by Shaquille O'Neal.(AP)

In fact, after Fisher drilled the second of his three bombs, he shadowed Tony Delk downcourt and drew a charging call on Delk about 24 feet from the rim. In the third quarter, Fisher stripped the ball from Delk as he brought the ball up to try a 22-foot shot.

Delk could thank Fisher for tossing and turning in his sleep Friday night.

Fisher never let up. With eight minutes left and the Lakers leading by 36 points, he drew a charge on local product Darrick Martin that drew more rounds of applause by thousands of fans who salivate for a return to glory for the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant insisted that Jackson made no loud defensive decrees during his first Lakers’ training camp in Santa Barbara in October.

"It just became fun," Bryant said. "It really did. Guys just enjoyed getting after people, holding ’em down, and we started winning. We were more enthusiastic than we’ve ever been, defensively. It came from passion."

Which the Lakers thrived on Friday. The only part of the evening that malfunctioned was the microphone Jackson spoke into a minute after he started a post-game press conference.

"We had that electricity," said Jackson, not missing an ironic beat, "and the crowd gave it to us."

If the cell freaks can continue the trend for three more chapters, the Lakers might wind up giving the city something to phone a friend about.