With the Los Angeles Lakers' homecourt victory over Portland and Sacramento's loss, the Lakers lead the Kings by a half-game in the Pacific. Because it holds the tie-breaker over Sacramento, Los Angeles can clinch the division title with a home victory over Denver in the Lakers' season finale Tuesday night.

Sacramento has two games remaining, at home against Vancouver and at Denver.

"Whatever the Lakers did, we had to win and we didn't do it," Adelman said. "Now they've got destiny in their hands."

Phoenix climbed a half-game ahead of Portland into the No. 6 playoff spot in the West. The Suns are a game behind No. 5 Dallas with two to play.

Before Sunday's game, the Suns were 0-3 against Sacramento. The last time the Kings came to Phoenix, the Suns blew a 26-point lead.

"The main thing is we know we can play this team, we can beat this team," Phoenix forward Rodney Rogers said.

Chris Webber scored 22, but none in the fourth quarter for the Kings. The Kings All-Star missed all three of his fourth-quarter shots, including a short hook in traffic that would have tied the game with less than a second to play.

Webber didn't have much to say afterward.

"I don't know, I don't know," Webber said. "It just hurts too much."

He scored just four points in the second half, and spent much of the time complaining to the officials.

"They did so much crying, I thought," Suns forward Cliff Robinson said. "An MVP candidate, you'd think they'd just play and not cry so much."

Personnel File

LOOKING AHEAD: In the late minutes of close playoff games, there will be less of Jason Williams and more of Bobby Jackson. In his continuing emphasis on defense, Adelman has relied heavily on Jackson in crunch time.

In the devastating loss to the Suns on Sunday, Williams was scoreless and took only three shots in 22 minutes.

A HEAVY WEIGHT: The Kings are concerned for Jackson. His mom, Sarah, is suffering from breast cancer in North Carolina. Jackson says he talks to her almost daily. He concedes that his mom's declining condition is affecting him.

"I pray a lot, and keep thinking that everything will be all right," Jackson said. "But it's just really tough right now. My grandmother's dying of cancer. I've got a daughter to raise, and I'm taking care of my nephew. And all this is going on back home while I'm out here playing basketball. I honestly don't know how I'm coping."

Noteworthy

LITTLE FLEAS: Jackson had one description for the Clippers after they took the Kings into overtime. "They were like bugs," Jackson said. "They wouldn't go away."

SHOWTIME FOR J-WILL: Williams already is appearing in a Nike commercial on MTV called "Freestyle." Nike has another ad, which is waiting to air. In it, Williams, a white playmaker, is digitally altered to appear black. A theme of the ad is that basketball is not necessarily "a black man's game." But it has yet to air.

Williams has been caught up in controversy, including racist comments at Golden State in late February. Williams apologized, and a Nike spokesman says the controversy isn't the reason the ad is still on the shelf.

"This season's other ad was pushed off the runway with a few other NBA ads when 'Freestyle' took on a life of its own," Scott Reames said. "Switching gears just didn't make sense anymore."

Nevertheless, Nike has monitored the controversy.

"It's a difficult situation -- you don't want to be knee-jerk and abandon a player just because of what a couple of people have alleged," Reames said. "But you have to think about whether the athlete is detrimental to the brand. In Jason's case, we waited more to find out what was actually said and how he'd respond. When we saw he'd apologized, it was not really upon us to be judge and jury."

STAT CORNER: The Kings equaled a league record last Tuesday with their eighth overtime victory of the season in a 116-109 win over the Clippers. The 1977-78 Milwaukee Bucks and 1990-91 Philadelphia 76ers also won eight overtime games.