1.   By the fifth game, I could see that my opponent was beginning to flag.

2.   Anaheim left wing and former Coyote Jim McKenzie missed his fifth straight game Thursday because of a cut above his right eye.

3.   Anaheim defenseman Jason York missed his fifth consecutive game because of a sore right shoulder.

4.   And Bradley, Gilliam, Fleming and Childs had all the answers in the final four minutes against a Denver team playing its fifth game in seven nights.

5.   And he saved two tickets for the fifth game for himself.

6.   And then he beat me in the fifth game.

7.   And while the Rockets finished their fifth game with their fourth combination, Pippen again seemed most comfortable directing the offense.

8.   Anthony Redmon, a free agent acquisition who started the first four games at right guard, is about to spend his fifth consecutive game in street clothes.

9.   Another center, Bobby Holik, missed his second consecutive game with a sore knee, and defenseman Scott Niedermayer missed his fifth game following arthroscopic knee surgery.

10.   Before the fifth game in Atlanta, you could pick up the unflappable poise of Fielder and Hayes.