SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Mike Bibby stayed up late, rehashing the biggest shot of his life with his girlfriend, mother and brothers. When he finally went to bed, however, he had a sound, dreamless sleep.

The euphoria from Game 5 of the Western Conference finals had died down by Wednesday afternoon, when Bibby and the rest of the Sacramento Kings were reminded that although they've got the Los Angeles Lakers on the brink of elimination, it won't mean a thing unless they can give the two-time champions one last push.

''It's hard to think of it that way, but we really haven't done anything,'' said Bibby, whose 22-foot jumper with 8.2 seconds left gave Sacramento a 92-91 victory. ''Nobody's going to be satisfied with three wins. We know the hardest one is the one we haven't got yet.''

Game 6 is Friday night at Staples Center, where the Kings had lost 10 of 11 before winning Game 3 and nearly taking Game 4 before Robert Horry's dramatic game-winning 3-pointer.

Bibby, in his first trip to the postseason, has been the unlikely symbol of the Kings' playoff maturity -- a quality that takes years to develop, but which has fruits that appear in sudden bursts.

Bibby's game-winner was the result of a tenacious effort by the Kings throughout the fourth quarter against the foul-plagued Lakers, who couldn't quite hang on to a lead.

''There's a point where a team just takes that next step,'' said Kings coach Rick Adelman, who led the Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. ''These guys are grabbing an opportunity, and they're getting even better in each round. I saw that with my guys in Portland, when they jumped to the next level in the playoffs and got us into the finals.

''Teams just have to make that leap, and I hope we're about to make it.''

Before the series began, Los Angeles was quick to highlight the Kings' inexperience -- and what Samaki Walker said was a history of choking in the teams' playoff meetings the past two seasons.

But the Lakers have developed a grudging admiration for the Kings' tenacity -- particularly after Game 5, when the Kings rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Los Angeles.

''They've played better at bigger moments than I thought they were capable of playing,'' said Lakers forward Rick Fox, one of Sacramento's most vocal critics.

To win the series, Los Angeles must beat the Kings in consecutive games, but Sacramento hasn't yet lost two straight in the playoffs. Playing with poise and freedom, the Kings are 5-1 on the road in the postseason -- and one road victory away from the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals since 1951.

''We haven't done anything that we didn't expect to do,'' center Vlade Divac said. ''We're still realistic, though. These games are always going to be really close.''

At their training complex Wednesday, the Kings looked nothing like a team on the verge of a historic achievement. Hedo Turkoglu stood behind a crowd of reporters, clowning to distract Chris Webber from his interview session, while the rest of the Kings milled around the court following a voluntary workout.

But the scene was much the same in El Segundo, where the Lakers laughed and joked while fielding questions about the prospect of an early demise for a budding dynasty. The Lakers have the maturity inherent in two championship rings, even if their quest for a third is in its first spot of real trouble.

''We're in pretty good spirits,'' said Kobe Bryant, who had the Lakers' final six field goals in Game 5 but missed the shot that could have won it. ''I don't see any heads down.''

Like any champion, the Lakers believe their will should supersede any developments on the court -- but so far in their third straight conference final, it hasn't happened consistently. Only Horry's buzzer-beater, which capped two fine comeback quarters, could be attributed to the Lakers' playoff experience.

The Lakers tried to resist the temptation to blame their latest loss on the officiating, even though Shaquille O'Neal shot just one free throw in 32 minutes before fouling out. In addition, Los Angeles thought a deflection with 11.8 seconds to play went off Webber, but was awarded to the Kings.

''They talk about fouls, but we've been attacking those guys,'' Adelman said. ''They do a lot of fouling and bumping and reaching, and we're putting them in a position where the officials see it.''