The glass is half-empty:

The glass is half-full:

I choose the latter.

It's been a tough few days, just because the momentum was sapped in that awful last three minutes of regulation. The momentum from The Steal and The Bounce. The momentum from the Kigs blowout last Sunday, assuring one more home game. The momentum of Tuesday's pure, unadulterated Bonziball experiment. The momentum of Ron-Ron going apesh*t in the fourth quarter.

It's all gone, because Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili very simply picked apart the Kings defense and held serve on the other end. So we get discouraged – it's like the Spurs finally realized they were better and decided to press a little harder on Sacramento's throat.

But it's not over, and there's no guarantee San Antonio is better. All indications would say they are – they still have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Gregg Popovich, Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Nick Van Exel. They are still the defending world champs. They won 63 freaking games. But who knows what this Sacramento was and is capable of, given the perfect storm nature of a solid four-game run (Brent Barry and the fateful three minutes notwithstanding).

The Kings haven't conceded. Bonzi is still unstoppable. Ron-Ron is still the strongest guy on the court. Bibby is still a terrifying shooter, and Martin is still terrifying fast. Miller is still one of the best centers in the game. Shareef is definitely the best sixth-man in the playoffs.

And, to top it off, they have the best fans in the world behind them, holding their breath on every dribble and screaming after every play. That's worth something.

Win or lose, it's here. It has to be faced. It's the end of a season, or the prelude to an instant classic, or a staying of the execution, or a gateway to the unthinkable. Who knows?

So let's enjoy it, in case it's any of those things.

Here's to life, here's to sport, here's to basketball, here's to us, and here's to the Kings.

Play ball.