Horry Makes Big Mistake, Bigger Plays

This is what Robert Horry has done ever since he towel-tossed his way out of Phoenix and into Los Angeles.

He can make you wonder, What the heck is he thinking?

Then he does something you don’t expect and makes you say, ooh.

It was all there on display Wednesday night, only with greater consequences.

In the latest turning-point game of the season he gave you Horry the athletic, Horry the versatile, Horry the uh-oh.

As it turned out, he gave the Lakers enough to help them get a 120-118 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers.

He was the Lakers’ caulk in Game 4 of the NBA finals, sealing the gap between Shaquille O’Neal’s 36 points and 21 rebounds and Kobe Bryant’s overtime heroics.

Horry had 17 points, six rebounds . . . and one potentially huge turnover.

Through it all--and even afterward--he remained just as casual as a pair of khaki pants.

“I was smiling the whole game, felt good,” Horry said. “I wasn’t worried about anything. Whatever happens, keep playing.”

It must be a lot easier to be Robert Horry than to watch Robert Horry.

He had 10 first-half points, including a driving layup and a fallaway jumper.

We’ll skip ahead to the final minute of regulation. Horry came flying through the lane to grab a missed shot by Indiana’s Jalen Rose with 45 seconds remaining. Dale Davis fouled him immediately. Horry had a chance to put the Lakers ahead by four points, but he missed one of his two free throws. After Sam Perkins tied the score with a three-pointer, Horry tried to throw a pass down low to Glen Rice with 18 seconds remaining, and the ball went out of bounds.

“I was hoping that I was going to get a foul on that when I tried to get it down to Glen, he was the only one I saw that was open,” Horry said. “They pulled him and it went out of bounds. I was like, ‘Oh well, we’ll go out and win it in overtime.’

“That’s just a part of the game. You turn the ball over. That turnover was probably magnified a little more because it was the last [20] seconds of the game.”

The Lakers got a reprieve when Travis Best missed an ill-advised jumper over Shaquille O’Neal.

With the pressure cranked up even higher in overtime, Horry came out and put the Lakers ahead with a baseline jumper on their first possession.

“We were running the play for Shaq, and [Austin] Croshere came out there running a little fast,” Horry said. “I was feeling pretty good, so I pump-faked, took a little dribble and hit the J.”

After a Rik Smits turnover, Horry got the offensive rebound off a missed shot by O’Neal and dunked to put the Lakers ahead by four.

Bryant took over from there, scoring eight of their next 12 points.

But the Pacers wouldn’t go away, and when they went to Reggie Miller for one last chance at victory, Horry used his foot speed, his 6-foot-10 frame and long arms to alter the shot.

With the Lakers ahead by two points and 5.9 seconds remaining, Miller popped free off a screen and caught the ball in three-point territory.

Horry left his man and came running out, much to Bryant’s relief.

“I did get a little nervous when I saw Reggie coming to the three-point line,” Bryant said. “Then I saw Robert Horry running toward him. If there’s anybody that can affect his shot, it’s Robert.”

“I had to shoot it higher over his hands,” Miller said. “When you do that, you have to shoot it a little bit longer, which I didn’t. It was right on target, I just had to shoot it a little bit higher.”

The ball bounced off the front of the rim, the Lakers held on for a 3-1 lead in the series.

Horry is usually at his best in the NBA finals. When he played small forward in Houston and the Rockets swept Orlando for their second consecutive NBA championship in 1995, he looked like he was the second coming of Scottie Pippen.

He has been playing out of position ever since he came to the Lakers in the 1996-97 season and they asked him to be a power forward.

Even after being abused by the likes of Karl Malone for the last three years, he wouldn’t want to go back to small forward now.

His legs are too worn down, he doesn’t have the youthful energy to chase guys all over the court anymore.

He also knows he has matchup problems at the big forward.

“If you had asked me during this point last year, would I be here? I never thought I would be on the Lakers,” Horry said. “Now, I’m in that situation to win one more game and get another ring.

“Any time a guy mentions your name in a press conference that you’re not the go-to guy on the team, that means you’re being traded, nine times out of 10.

“I didn’t really care. I don’t think I have to prove myself to anybody but myself. I’m the one who judges me harder than anybody.”

And how would he judge this year?

“It’s been an up-and-down season for me,” Horry said. “Some days I’m very ticked off at myself, some days I’m happy with myself.

“Like today, I was happy with myself.”

At moments like the high ones he had Wednesday, the Lakers are happy he’s still around, playing whatever position he’s asked to.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address:j.a.adande@latimes.com.