A KING-SIZED GAUGE FOR LAKERS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

A year ago, the rest of us were distracted by college basketball, the onset of baseball and the Oscars as the Lakers went to Sacramento for what turned out to be the most resounding regular-season victory of their three-peat campaign.

Shaquille O'Neal fouled out. Kobe Bryant put the Lakers ahead. Chris Webber had a baseline jump shot to give the Kings the victory but the ball fell out instead of in at the buzzer and the Lakers held on 97-96 in that beautiful mind game.

Webber sank to his knees. He pounded the ARCO Arena floor with both fists. The sound waves echoed all the way to June.

``Before that,'' the Lakers' Derek Fisher said this week of the regular-season showdown last March, ``I think they (the Kings) really felt like the homecourt was an advantage for them. You know, up until that point, I think they really thought they were safe at ARCO Arena.''

The evidence to the contrary was on both teams' minds 10 weeks later during the NBA semifinals, when the Lakers won the series' first and last games in Sacramento, the seventh game going to overtime for a test of confidence.

``We knew we could go in there and win because we'd done it before, (and the Kings knew) we could come in there and win on their homecourt,'' Fisher said. ``That probably set up our being able to go in in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last year and get a win on their court.''

This year, the rest of us are talking about college basketball, the onset of baseball and the Oscars - and the war drums that are drowning out the ARCO cow bells - as the Lakers go to Sacramento tonight for what could turn out to be another playoff preview.

Each team has beaten the other once this season.

The Kings won at Staples Center on Christmas Day, when the Lakers were bottoming out, falling to 11-19 that evening.

The Lakers won at ARCO on Jan. 31, when the Kings were weakened by Webber and Bobby Jackson's injuries.

Now both teams are themselves again.

Tonight's game will tell the Lakers where they stand.

No matter that Phil Jackson seems to wish the anticipation would get lost amid the NCAA Tournament, the spring-training scores and the Best Supporting Actress analysis.

``Ultimately, that's not our goal, to go up there and win that game so we can set a precedent for the playoffs,'' the Lakers coach said this week. ``It's just one of many goals.''

It's a good place to start, though.

The Kings (47-21) are second in the West, the Lakers (38-28) sixth. If the Kings lose 1 1/2 games in the standings, below third-place San Antonio, or the Lakers fall back one game, behind seventh-place Utah, then it's Sacramento vs. Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs.

``Both teams, as opposed to the earlier meetings, probably feel like the game means more,'' Fisher said. ``Neither has more to play for.''

Bryant said this week that it will ``probably hurt them (the Kings) a little bit'' if they lose both regular-season meetings at ARCO. O'Neal did his part to pump up the Kings last week when he derided U.S. Olympic team selection Mike Bibby as a ``Cub Scout.'' Even if the Kings aren't the only team to beat in the West anymore, they're the team the Lakers enjoy beating the most.

This spring, Sacramento isn't the Lakers' only target. There's Dallas and San Antonio too. And Minnesota and Portland.

Since Christmas, there's only 2 1/2 games' difference between the top five teams in the West - the Spurs (29-9), Lakers (27-9), Mavericks (28-12), Timberwolves (29-13) and Trail Blazers (28-13). The Kings (24-13) have been sixth best over the past two months.

The Lakers face six games against teams ahead of them in the conference standings during their 16 remaining regular-season games, including San Antonio on the road Sunday.

So, sorting out who's best in the conference will take longer than the 48 minutes the Lakers and the Kings will play tonight.

But these are the first 48 minutes of the Lakers' stretch run.

This could turn out to be the first game of the 2003 playoffs.

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Photo:

Shaquille O'Neal, left, and the Lakers face Vlade Divac's Sacramento Kings tonight in a big game for both teams.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News

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