Kings 119, Mavericks 118

<br>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ From Mike Bibby's 3-pointers to Steve Nash's playmaking, the Kings and the Mavericks finally played the beautiful game everyone expected. <br><br>It's just a pity

Friday, April 30th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ From Mike Bibby's 3-pointers to Steve Nash's playmaking, the Kings and the Mavericks finally played the beautiful game everyone expected.

It's just a pity a playoff series between the NBA's two best offenses had to end on an ugly miss.

Bibby set career playoff highs with six 3-pointers and 36 points, and Dirk Nowitzki missed a jumper at the buzzer in Sacramento's 119-118 victory over Dallas on Thursday night, wrapping up their first-round meeting in five games.

The Kings' final three victories in this unpredictable series were decided by a total of seven points. All came down to the final shot, but Dallas came up short _ or long, or off-center _ on all three tries, sending the Kings to the second round and the Mavs to a summer of near-certain changes.

After Michael Finley and Nash failed under pressure from Peja Stojakovic earlier in the series, Nowitzki couldn't score over the Kings' improbable defensive hero. Stojakovic forced Nowitzki, the playoffs' leading scorer, to change his shot just enough to miss.

``I think that's a shot that I can make,'' said Nowitzki, who had 31 points. ``It looked pretty good. I had a good fake, a good look at it. It's disappointing, but it never should have come down to that.''

Also Thursday night, Detroit beat Milwaukee 91-77 to win its Eastern Conference series in five games.

Game 5 in Sacramento was tremendous fun to watch _ easily the highest-scoring playoff game of the season and a recital of offensive prowess at the Mavericks' favored tempo. But the Kings adapted to Dallas' every change in the series, from last week's physical defensive battles to the track meets in the series opener and closer.

``We just kept coming back and coming back and staying with it,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said. ``I thought Dallas played a great series. It really could have gone the other way.''

Showing off his celebratory bigfoot walk after nearly every big basket, Bibby scored 16 points in the second quarter, making nine straight shots altogether. He added 12 points in the fourth to polish his playoff reputation and win a compelling duel with Nash, who had 24 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds.

Stojakovic scored 23 points for the Kings, who tied their franchise playoff record of 11 3-pointers for the second time in the series. Sacramento needed every one of them: Dallas held the Kings scoreless in the final 3:22.

The Mavericks closed within one point with 29.4 seconds left on a putback layup by Nowitzki. Bibby ran the clock down and drove the lane, but couldn't draw a foul.

After a timeout, Nash got the ball to Nowitzki, who barely missed. Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof rushed the court in celebration while the sellout crowd roared and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban frowned.

Coach Don Nelson, whose future is uncertain, wanted a foul called against Stojakovic on the final play.

``We should be going home to play another good basketball game,'' he said. ``Instead, we're going home and playing nobody for a very long time.''

All-Star Brad Miller scored 21 points in a series-high 44 minutes for the Kings, who advanced to a probable second-round meeting with the top-seeded Timberwolves. Minnesota, which could close out Denver on Friday night, was the only opponent to win two games in Sacramento this season.

After three games mostly dominated by defense and bad shooting, the NBA's two highest-scoring teams went back to the form they showed in the 221-point series opener.

``That's the game we were waiting for between these two teams,'' Adelman said.

Rookie Marquis Daniels scored 19 points for the Mavericks, whose entertaining nucleus might have played together for the last time. Nash is expected to opt out of his contract to become a free agent, and Cuban can't be satisfied by a first-round exit for his highly paid team.

``I don't know if we need to change personnel or change our identity in some way, but we've got to get better on defense,'' Nash said.

The Mavericks opened with the appropriate desperation for a do-or-die game. They led 15-2 before most fans had settled into their seats, eventually scoring 37 points in the first quarter.

But the Kings replied with 39 in the second quarter _ and the real scoring had just started.

Pistons 91, Bucks 77

At Auburn Hills, Mich., the highest scoring playoff game of Tayshaun Prince's career moved the Pistons into a rematch with the Nets, who swept them out of the playoffs a year ago.

Prince scored 24 points, and Detroit used a strong third quarter to take control for a 4-1 series victory.

Game 1 of the Nets series is Monday.

Detroit took control with a 30-point third quarter after scoring just 39 points in the first half and leading by seven.

Chauncey Billups scored 19 points, Richard Hamilton had 18, Rasheed Wallace had 10 points and 11 rebounds and Ben Wallace added nine points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.