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 Five of the Western Conference finals had died down by Wednesday afternoon, when Bibby and the rest of the Sacramento Kings knew 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 Six is Friday night at Staples Center, where the Kings had lost 10 of 11 before winning Game Three and nearly taking Game Four before Robert Horry’s dramatic game-winning three-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, 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 Five, 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.

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.

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.