Rarely does a player miss two chances to send a playoff game into overtime and walk away standing somehow taller in the mind's eye. John Stockton did just that Saturday in Game 1 against the Kings.

He did that by getting worked in the opening minutes, shifting the game's gears and then using that 40-year-old body to put the clanking eighth-seeded Jazz in perfect position to upset the top-seeded Kings. Utah lost because Utah has yet to find a replacement for Jeff Hornacek, the sharpshooting, weakside geezer who acted his age and retired two years ago. So Stockton took matters into those oversized hands and gave it his best.

	At 40, John Stockton, top, is still battling kids like Mike Bibby.

His first attempt, a pull-up from the top of the arc with about nine seconds left, circled the entire rim before spinning out. The second, a desperation set-shot heave from the right wing in the final seconds, was on line but hit the front rim and bounced straight in the air. Maybe it would've fallen through. Maybe it would've bounced on the rim again, kissed the glass and then gone in. Maybe it would've caromed away. We'll never know because Scott Padgett decided to tip-dunk it, drawing an offensive interference call as Sacramento held on for an 89-86 victory.

But unlike watching the ol' bald guy in D.C. fail, seeing the ol' shaggy-haired guy from SLC come up short was inspiring. Maybe it's because Stockton found a way back, one more time, to the part of the season that really matters. Maybe it's because we've been allowed to watch his skills gradually diminish, making it easier to accept he's doing the best with what he has left. Maybe it's because he respected the game and his age by accepting limited minutes so he could be around to play now. Maybe it's the Sisyphean drama, seeing as Jordan has Stockton in the jewelry department, 6-0. Or maybe it's because he's never had to tell us about his love for the game because he has demonstrated it -- by never leaving.

Stockton opened the game by stealing Mike Bibby's entry pass, but the tide turned quickly after that. Bibby, making his first playoff appearance ever, torched Stockton for eight unanswered points. Bibby isn't particularly fast but he blew by Stockton at will.

This, it seemed, captured the essence of where these two franchises are -- Bibby embodying Sacramento's on-the-come improvisational offense, Stockton personifying Utah's proud-but-fading fundamental approach. Stockton's pride surfaced when he knocked Bibby to the floor with a pick and then into the first row on a blocking foul, but it didn't do much good. Bibby nailed a 3 for a 10-point lead and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan pulled Stockton off the floor.

Or maybe it did do some good, and maybe Stockton was more wily than wounded. Right before he left, he disrupted Bibby's dribble and beat him to the loose ball at midcourt, setting up a fastbreak layup that inspired the Jazz to cut the Kings' lead in half before the end of the first quarter.

	“	I see a lot of myself in him. What he's still doing is amazing. People might think he's old, but he's still real active, defensively and offensively. ”
		— Mike Bibby on John Stockton

"I see a lot of myself in him," Bibby says. "What he's still doing is amazing. People might think he's old, but he's still real active, defensively and offensively."

Then, with the officials calling 13 second-quarter fouls and four Ts, Arco Arena became a flophouse. "I told them, 'You start that, I can do it, too,'" says center Vlade Divac, a world-class diver.

It played into Utah's hands. The whistles slowed the pace to a school-zone speed limit. Halftime score: Utah 47, Kings 46. Stockton changed the course of the game by taking only one shot but collecting three fouls, along with six assists, three steals and three turnovers.

"That's leadership," said Kings backup point guard Bobby Jackson. "You can't teach that."

Stockton had started to punch the air in celebration after the second, last-second 3-point attempt, then doubled over and clutched his head for a moment before walking off. His performance, and that emotion, seem to back up the prevailing notion that he'll be back next season. If he is, he won't make a fuss about it. He'll wear those mid-thigh shorts and provide his ultra-dry quotes and hurry out of the locker room every night to his wife and kids. And if he doesn't? If this is it?

"Ooooh," says Bobby Jackson. "They're done."

Ric Bucher is a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine.