ORLANDO, Fla. - Kobe Bryant is one win from an NBA title to call his own.
Derek Fisher got him there.
Fisher forced overtime with a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left in regulation and then drilled another one with 31.3 seconds to go in overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Orlando Magic 99-91 in Game 4 on Thursday night to open a 3-1 lead in the NBA finals.
Los Angeles Lakers Derek Fisher (L) hits a three-point shot over Orlando Magic Jameer Nelson with 4 seconds left to tie the game and send in into overtime in Game 4 of their NBA Finals basketball game in Orlando, Florida June 11, 2009. [Agencies]
It was the first time since 1984, when Magic Johnson's Lakers and Larry Bird's Celtics hooked up, that two games in a finals have gone to overtime.
When the clock expired, Bryant, trying to win his first championship without Shaquille O'Neal, looked at Tiger Woods and wiped sweat from his brow in relief. Fisher, who has bailed out the Lakers in plenty of big games before, thrust both arms in the air in triumph.
The Lakers can wrap up their 15th title on Sunday night in Game 5.
Bryant finished with 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol each had 16 for Los Angeles, which came back from a 12-point halftime deficit. Ariza had 13 of the Lakers' 30 points in the third quarter.
Unless they can force a Game 6, the Magic will remember this as another finals game that got away.
Dwight Howard was magnificent everywhere but at the free-throw line. Orlando's superman of a center had 16 points, 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.
First, Fisher, who has made a career of hitting memorable shots in clutch situations, pulled up and without hesitating dropped a 3-pointer over Orlando's Jameer Nelson with 4.6 seconds left to tie it 87-87. The shot stunned the Magic's maniacal crowd, which was hoping the home team could win its second straight finals game after dropping its first six.
"I was just going to take over and kind of survey the situation but Nelson was giving me a lot of space and I like to step into those 3s," Fisher said. "Even though I wasn't making them, I felt like I could do that. I felt good to help the team that way."
Fisher had missed his first five 3s, but came up with one the little left-hander will cherish forever.
"My teammates and my coaches kept giving me that confidence to continue to believe in myself," Fisher said. "I wanted to come through for the guys."
Just as they did in Game 2, Orlando had one final try, and this time guard Courtney Lee, who misfired on a tougher-than-it-looked layup in that loss, wasn't on the floor. The Magic inbounded the ball to Mickael Pietrus, but his long and contested jumper was off.