With four minutes left in Monday's 114-101 series-clinching victory over the Mavericks, Sacramento Kings fans started loudly chanting "Beat LA, Beat LA."

Actually, the chants should have started late Saturday afternoon when the Kings miraculously completed a two-game sweep of the Mavericks in Dallas to take full control of this Western Conference semifinals series. Monday's proceedings were simply an afterthought, because this was too steep of a hill for the Mavericks to climb.

In winning the best-of-seven series 4-1, the Kings will play the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs series for the Western Conference championship. The Lakers lead that best-of-seven series 3-1, and could close it out tonight in LA, making for an all-California championship.