Jackson Wants a Sweeping Statement

SACRAMENTO —  It will be loud, possibly deafening, in Arco Arena today when the Lakers try to complete a 3-0 first-round sweep of the Sacramento Kings, which is all the better for Coach Phil Jackson to see how his players react.

Can the Lakers finish off Sacramento with the floor shaking and 17,000 King fans screaming for at least another game?

“It’s a real good test, because there’s going to be such bravado,” Jackson said after the Lakers’ Saturday workout at their El Segundo practice site and before their evening flight north.

“Everybody looks forward to getting playoff tickets and when Sacramento fans get their tickets and they realize that it could only be one game . . . the intensity’s going to be terrific on that floor.

“I expect they’ll generate a lot of psych or psychology stuff up there that they can use and it should be real interesting to see what they come up with up there, pregame stuff.”

The goal for the Lakers, Jackson said, is to withstand the emotional wave sure to hit in the early minutes, then to trigger a backfire.

“What happens a lot of times, there’s so much energy, there’s so much hype, that teams actually get over-hyper probably during the game in the first quarter,” Jackson said.

“That sometimes can work against a team, as a disadvantage. That’s where we have to show our poise . . . whether we get behind or get ahead, that intensity that mounts during that first part of the game, we just have to handle that with a lot of poise and control and we’ll be all right.”

Co-captain Ron Harper said the Kings, who won 30 of 41 regular-season home games, will definitely play with more confidence than they did in the first two games at Staples Center and that the Lakers’ best response will be to keep giving the ball to Shaquille O’Neal.

“We know when that crowd gets in there and they start shooting those wild shots and they start to hit some, that we need to just take the ball back inside,” Harper said.

“We will find out what killer instinct we have [in] Game 3. I think it will be a good test for our team. We know they’re a good home team.”

The Lakers have proved they can win on the road, going 31-10 during the regular season.

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Jackson said he expects more dynamic play from the Kings’ reserves, who were a big part of Sacramento’s regular-season success but have been largely muted in this series.

“I think our bench will have trouble with their bench on their home floor,” Jackson said. “They’ll have more liberties, they’ll be more comfortable. [Jon] Barry hit a couple shots last game, looked like he’s starting to come off that [neck] injury and down spell he had a little bit.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Rick [Adelman, the King coach] went to his bench a little bit earlier and a little bit longer than he has in the first two games.”