Bryant, Lakers have their game faces on for Kings

LOS ANGELES -- A day after being animated and outgoing, Kobe Bryant was a man of few words Thursday.

"Maybe I got up on the wrong side of the bed today," he said without cracking a smile.

The Los Angeles Lakers' star and his teammates were in a serious mood on the eve of perhaps their final game of the season.

Of course, they plan on playing until mid-June, as they have the past two years in winning championships.

"I'm enjoying myself," Bryant said, although it appeared otherwise as he dealt with the throng of media surrounding him at the Lakers' training headquarters in nearby El Segundo. "I'd much rather be up 3-2."

It's the Sacramento Kings who have that advantage entering Game 6 of the Western Conference finals tonight at Staples Center.

"Everybody's fine on the team," Bryant said. "I'm very pleased with that. Everybody's spirits are high."

The Lakers' task sounds simple enough -- beat the Kings today, beat them again Sunday at Arco Arena and then face Boston or New Jersey in the NBA Finals.

The reality is, accomplishing the feat will be anything but simple against the gritty Kings, who might already have won the best-of-seven series had it not been for a last-second 3-pointer by Robert Horry in Game 4.

"We're hungry, we're one win away from the Finals," Game 5 hero Mike Bibby said after practice in Sacramento, before the Kings flew south. "We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. I think we actually played them better on the road than we have at home. We're more relaxed down there."

The Kings won a convincing 103-90 decision at Staples Center before losing 100-99 on Horry's winner after leading by as many as 24 points in Game 4.

While the Kings have a 5-1 road playoff record and have won 17 of their last 20 games away from home, the Lakers have won 20 of their last 22 games at Staples Center.

"We like where we are," Shaquille O'Neal said. "This is the position we want to be in. "

CELTICS-NETS: If the Boston Celtics don't find a way to get off to a better start, there is a greater chance their season will come to a finish tonight in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

In four of the five games of the best-of-seven series, the New Jersey Nets have outscored the Celtics in the first quarter.

The trend has been particularly prevalent recently. In Games 3, 4 and 5, New Jersey outscored Boston by a combined 90-47 -- 28-13, 31-18 and 31-16.

"We've gotten ourselves behind the 8-ball four out of five games and found ourselves having to catch up," Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said Thursday. "My advice: See if you can't knock a couple of those down."

An early measure of whether Game 6 is going the Celtics' way will be the score at the end of the first quarter. If Boston can't find a way to make the Nets play from behind, even the Celtics don't like their chances.

"Everybody is aware of what we need to do in the first quarter. We're just not getting the job done," Boston's Paul Pierce said. "I feel good about our chances. Once again, our backs are to the wall. This is where we're at our best."

-- From wire reports