NBA FINALS

Lakers looking to close out Magic on the road

06/14/2009

ORLANDO — Derek Fisher’s late heroics in Game Four of the National Basketball Association Finals helped put the Los Angeles Lakers on the verge of winning their 15th title in franchise history.

Fisher’s game-tying three pointer in regulation and go-ahead three pointer in extra time lifted the Lakers over the Orlando Magic, who were left teetering on the brink of elimination.

With the Lakers taking a 99-91 win and holding a comfortable 3-1 series lead, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson is one win away from surpassing Celtics legend Red Auerbach for the most NBA rings as a head coach.

Jackson chose his words carefully Friday when asked about the significance of getting another ring.

“Talking about futuristic things kind of throws me for a loop,” Jackson said. “I do know it is a momentous thing.”

Jackson can collect his 10th coaching ring and Kobe Bryant can earn his fourth — and first without Shaquille O’Neal — if the Lakers wrap up the series in Game Five on Sunday (Monday morning in Manila) at Orlando’s Amway Arena.

“We still have a big battle and a big game to win before we can do anything or claim anything,” Jackson said.

Jackson said when he was a young player in the NBA he thought Auerbach’s records would never be broken.

“(I remember) looking at those records of the Celtics and realizing and thinking about how unattainable they are.”

Jackson said he’s trying to keep his players on an even keel so part of his motivational strategy was to remind them after Game Four that if they win Sunday they don’t have to attend any more practices.

The Orlando Magic surrendered a 12-point lead at halftime and now they must conquer history and their own mistakes in order to bounce back in Game Five of the NBA Finals.

It doesn’t get any easier for Dwight Howard and the Magic after falling 99-91 in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers in Thursday’s Game Four of the NBA championship series.

Orlando must now buck history, as no team has ever rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA title.

“You have to deal with reality,” Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday. “We are down 3-1.”

The Magic face the daunting task of not only winning Sunday at home but taking Games Six and Seven in Los Angeles.

“I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t understand the fine line between winning and losing in this game,” Van Gundy said. “It is a very fine line. It is what makes the games exciting and it is also what makes them when you lose so heart wrenching because it’s not a huge difference in the game.” AFP

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