Derek Fisher
Courtesy: Associated Press
Fisher Picks Up Fourth NBA Title as Lakers Down Magic
“I’ll smoke the cigar tonight in memory of Red,'’ Jackson said. “He was a great guy.'’
Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games.
Together.
Nothing was going to stop Bryant, who spent the postseason scowling, snarling, baring his teeth and all but breathing fire at anything in his path. For weeks, the All-Star has worn his game face, and only when the victory was his in the final seconds did the finals MVP allow himself to smile.
After the final horn, he leaped into the air and was quickly engulfed by his teammates, who bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Bryant then gave a long, heartfelt hug and shared a few words with Jackson before sweeping up his daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms.
Bryant had come up short twice in the finals before, in 2004 with O’Neal against Detroit, and again last season against the Celtics in the renewal of the league’s best rivalry. The Lakers were beaten in six games, losing the finale in Boston by 39 points, a humiliating beatdown that Bryant and his teammates had trouble shaking.
They went to training camp with one goal in mind. This was going to be their season, and except for a few minor missteps, it was.
“It’s so tough to win championships,'’ Bryant said. “We started over from scratch. Here we are again. This really feels like a dream.'’
After beating Utah in the first round, Los Angeles was forced to go seven games against Houston, which lost center Yao Ming to an injury. The Lakers then took care of Denver in six games, setting up a matchup with the shoot-from-their-hips Magic, who made their first visit to the finals since O’Neal took them there in 1995.
Orlando will be haunted by moments in a series that swung on a few plays and had two overtime games.
After losing Game 1 by 25 points, the Magic had their chance in Game 2 but rookie Courtney Lee missed an alley-oop layup in the final second of regulation. In Game 4, Dwight Howard clanged two free throws with 11.1 seconds, and the Magic allowed Derek Fisher to nail a game-tying 3-pointer to force OT.
Howard, the Magic’s super hero center, was hardly a factor in Game 5. He scored 11 points, took just nine shots and never got a chance to get going. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points, but was only 3 of 12 on 3s for Orlando, which after living on the 3, finally died by it.
The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range.
Orlando was trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals. They had rallied to knock off Philadelphia and Boston, and then upset LeBron James and Cleveland in the conference finals. The Magic always felt they had a shot at history.
Bryant, though, wouldn’t be denied his place.
Orlando’s magical mystery tour came to a quick end.
As teammates, Bryant and O’Neal were nearly unbeatable on the court. Off it, there were problems.
The pair won three straight titles together from 2000-02, but the Bryant-O’Neal dynasty became dysfunctional as both fought for control with Jackson publicly siding with his All-Star center. It all eventually crumbled in 2004 when O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.
Bryant was blamed for the breakup, and as the years passed, his many critics said he couldn’t win one by himself. He couldn’t, but the addition of Gasol, who came over in a stunning trade from Memphis last season, filled O’Neal’s massive void at center and gave Bryant help.
Fisher, who has four rings himself, came back to L.A. after stints in Golden State and Utah and became a steadying force. If not for his two key 3-pointers in Game 4, this series would still be going.
The Lakers were anything but The Kobe Show.
They got help from their entire roster as Odom, Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum, who missed most of last season and the playoffs with a knee injury, came through.
The Lakers began to separate from the Magic in the second quarter, and they did it by borrowing a page from Orlando’s playbook - shooting at will.
Trailing 40-36, Los Angeles went on a 16-0 run, which included two 3-pointers by Ariza and one by Fisher. When Fisher got Howard to leave his feet and dropped a layup, the Lakers were up by nine and a sizable contingent of purple-and-gold clad fans began chants of “Let’s Go Lakers!'’
They led 56-46 at halftime and kept their distance in the second half, forcing the Magic, who shot a finals record 63 percent in Game 3, into rapid-fire mode.
This time, the shots wouldn’t drop.
The Lakers’ shots weren’t falling either early on, and if their field-goal percentage wasn’t ugly enough, Bryant jammed the outside fingers on his shooting hand when he had the ball ripped away.
During a timeout, Bryant, who has been bothered by a dislocated pinky for two seasons, kicked his feet in obvious pain as he sat on the bench. At halftime, one of the team’s trainers yanked on his hand and Bryant turned down an offer of ice.
“I want to feel the pain,'’ he said.
On this night, he wanted to savor it all.
Notes: Ariza and Hedo Turkoglu went forehead-to-forehead - literally - in the second quarter before they were separated by Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy and Magic assistant Patrick Ewing. Both players were called for technicals. … Celebrity row was sparse with only tennis star Serena Williams and rapper ‘Lil Wayne notable. … Jackson’s contract is up and he’s hinted at retirement. Bryant doesn’t believe it. “I think he’s just more amused by everybody thinking that he’s thinking that, if that makes any sense,'’ he said.
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Courtesy: Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -To this day, it is referred to simply as 0.4, the last-second shot that first made Derek Fisher famous.
In Game 4 of the NBA finals, Fisher may have topped it.
Twice.
Fisher hit two key 3-pointers - one with 4.6 seconds left in regulation, the other with 31.3 seconds to go in overtime - as the Los Angeles Lakers moved within one win of their 15th championship by beating the Orlando Magic 99-91 on Thursday night to open a 3-1 series lead.
The 34-year-old Fisher, in his second stint with the Lakers after stops in Golden State and Utah, was best known for his turnaround fling with 0.4 seconds left in the 2004 playoffs against San Antonio. He’s got two more shots that rank right with it.
“Maybe 100, 101, something like that,'’ the 13-year-veteran joked. “No, I mean, obviously, it’s at the top. You know, even greater than 0.4 because I feel like we’re as close as possible to what our end goal is.'’
The Lakers can wrap up their first title since 2002 on Sunday in Game 5. If necessary, Games 6 and 7 would be back in Los Angeles at Staples Center.
The only way the Lakers, who overcame a 12-point halftime deficit in Game 4 and improved to 7-0 after a playoff loss, can be denied a crown is if they lose three straight.
That hasn’t happened all season.
The Magic, commandos of the comeback in the postseason, need a rally for the ages. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the finals.
“There’s no reason for us to hold our heads down,'’ Orlando center Dwight Howard said. “We will believe until there’s no more games to be played.'’
Howard was magnificent everywhere but at the free-throw line. He scored 16 points with 21 rebounds and a finals-record nine blocks. But he made just 6 of 14 foul shots, and it was his two crucial misses with 11.1 seconds to go in regulation that doomed the Magic.
Orlando missed 15 free throws.
“I just missed them,'’ Howard said. “I’ve been working on my free throws. They just weren’t falling tonight.'’
After Howard’s late misses, Fisher pulled up and without hesitating dropped a 3-pointer over Orlando’s Jameer Nelson with 4.6 seconds left to tie it at 87 - and silenced the home crowd.
“I just sensed that was the dagger,'’ Fisher said. “That was the one that would put us in a position to close out the game - even though the game wasn’t over.'’
Before the first of his two big 3s, Fisher had missed his first five.
“He’s been there before,'’ said Kobe Bryant, who had 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. “He has been there and done that. That’s Derek. He just has supreme confidence and I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones.'’
At the end of regulation, Orlando had one final try. The Magic inbounded the ball to Mickael Pietrus, but his long and contested jumper was off.
Bryant scored two quick baskets in the overtime, and Howard tied it when he split two free throws with 1:27 remaining.
On L.A.’s next trip, Trevor Ariza grabbed his own miss to get another 24 seconds and Fisher lined up and drilled his 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 94-91.
As he retreated down court and Orlando called a timeout, the Lakers bench stormed onto the court and surrounded the popular Fisher, who felt obliged to come through.
“I have a responsibility to my team that if I’m going to be on the floor, then I have to make a difference,'’ he said. “None of us can continue to expect that Kobe is going to save us.'’
In NBA finals history, only two players have made more 3s than Fisher’s 40: Robert Horry (56) and Michael Jordan (42).
“It’s character,'’ said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, a victory away from a record 10th NBA championship ring. “We’ve always said the character has got to be in players if they are going to be great players. You just can’t draft it.'’
Ariza and Pau Gasol each had 16 for Los Angeles. Ariza, traded by Orlando to L.A. in 2007, had 13 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the third quarter.
With his team up by three at the end of regulation, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy felt it was too early to foul the Lakers. With his team missing free throws, he didn’t want to get into a foul-shooting contest.
Later, he regretted the decision.
“That one will haunt me forever,'’ he said.
The Lakers spent the first half in foul trouble, and left the floor at halftime down 49-37.
They came back a different team.
“On a championship run, you’re going to have moments where you make big plays,'’ Bryant said. “And tonight was one of them.'’