Ron Artest’s shot ranks among best in Lakers playoff lore
In the last 25 years, there have been some improbable shots in Lakers playoff history, along with some equally memorable reactions. Here are some of the top shots and a snippet of their aftermath.
2010: As time expired, Ron Artest scored off Kobe Bryant’s airballed three-point attempt to give the Lakers a 103-101 victory Thursday over Phoenix in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
Reaction: “I don’t know why I left him in the game,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “I actually questioned it myself when I put him out there on the floor, and there he was. Made the key play.”
Pau Gasol scored on a follow shot with 0.6 seconds left in the Lakers’ 95-94 victory over Oklahoma City in Game 6 of the first round last month.
Reaction: “I kept battling, kept hustling,” Gasol said. “Luckily I pursued that ball and I put it in.”
2004: Derek Fisher hit a fade-away jumper with 0.4 seconds left for a 74-73 victory against San Antonio in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. It answered Tim Duncan’s awkward 18-foot bank shot that gave the Spurs the lead.
Reaction: “One lucky shot deserves another,” Shaquille O’Neal said.
2002: Robert Horry picks up a loose ball and drills a three-pointer with no time left against Sacramento for a 100-99 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
Reaction: “I just knocked it out of there and I thought time would run out,” said Sacramento center Vlade Divac, who batted a rebound away from the lane ÃÂ and right out to Horry above the arc.
2000: Kobe Bryant finds Shaquille O’Neal for an alley-oop dunk in the defining moment of the Lakers’ comeback from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter for an 89-84 victory over Portland in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
Reaction: “I thought I threw the ball too high,” Bryant said. “Shaq went up and got it, I was like, ‘Damn!’ ”
1987: Magic Johnson scored on a “junior sky hook” with two seconds left in the Lakers’ 107-106 victory over Boston in Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Boston Garden.
Reaction: “I put it up, and saw it as I released it, but then someone jumped in my face. I never saw it go in,” Johnson said.
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