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Did anybody see the San Antonio at Sacramento game on Saturday? Here's how it ended: with 4.1 seconds left, Robert Horry missed a free throw that would have put the Spurs up three. Brad Miller rebounds.



What happened next was sort of a tragedy of NBA basketball. Miller fired a pass to Mike Bibby, who was in the backcourt at about the three-point line. I should add here, that four seconds is a long time in basketball, and plenty of high school teams can use that amount of time to move the ball full-court to get a good shot without a timeout. There have been games where both teams have scored in that amount of time.



I don't know what the Kings had discussed or practiced, but it surely wasn't this: Bibby took two dribbles, during which time it suddenly clear that he's not at all fast with the ball. Meanwhile, Kevin Martin (30 points) and John Salmons (20 points), who are both incredibly fast and long and can get a shot off guaranteed, are both feeling it.



It somehow takes the better part of three seconds from the time the Kings rebounded until Bibby hits half court, when he, with a second and a half on the clock, fires a half-court shot that sails over the backboard as the buzzer sounds. Eric Musselman aged a year in that instant.



I have watched it about a dozen times, and I am hard-pressed to tell you that Bibby turned down a clearly better option, other than taking one more dribble. John Salmons was around the three-point line moving fast, but there wasn't really an angle. Not one King looks ready to get off a good shot. There is no teamwork or plan: no pick, no nothing. Most of the Kings don't even appear to be running full speed down the court. It just didn't look like NBA crunch time, which was pretty sad.