Looking for Luck in All Right Places

After the Lakers had danced off the floor in shock, after the Kings had been barking in their showers in despair, after 18,000 fans had flooded the downtown streets singing “Hor-ry” as if it were the recessional song at high mass, the question was raised.

Was it luck?

An answer can be calculated as quickly as voices were lost and breaths disappeared in the most chill-bumped Laker moment of the Phil Jackson era.

Of course it was luck.

Vlade Divac tips away a rebound that just happens to land at the feet of Robert Horry?

Luck.

This pass from the opposing team just happens to give Horry enough time to throw up a three-point shot with less than one second remaining on the clock?

Luck.

That Horry made the shot Sunday afternoon to give the Lakers a 100-99 victory over Sacramento in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, that was skill.

Horry has hit more pressure 25-footers than Tiger Woods. He has more game-winning hits than Barry Bonds. He is more money than Eddie.

But the play was set up by luck. The Lakers won by luck. The series has been tied at two games apiece by luck.

Luck, luck, luck.

And so what?

There is no asterisk for luck. There are no penalties for luck.

Luck does not diminish a win.

Luck simply adds to a legend.

That is what is happening here, you know. Smooth brick by crumbled brick by magical brick, these Lakers are building memories that will last long after their glares fade and their tattoos wrinkle.

Sitting across the court from Horry on Sunday afternoon, stuck to my chair for several long minutes after the swish, strangely unable to move amid the chaos of hugging ushers and howling fans and a court overrun with joy, I had one thought.

I’ve been here before. We’ve all been here before.

Two years ago, the clincher against Sacramento and the comeback against Portland.

Last year, the comeback in San Antonio and Horry’s posing three-pointer in Philadelphia.

This year, Horry’s three-pointer against Portland, and Kobe Bryant’s rebound and shot against San Antonio.

And now this, the most dramatic and emotional and downright unthinkable of all.

Early in the second quarter, the Lakers trailed by 24.

With four minutes remaining, they trailed by eight.

With two minutes remaining, they trailed by six.

With 11.8 seconds remaining, they trailed by two.

But Devean George had been hustling for offensive rebounds, and Bryant had been hustling Mike Bibby across the court, and Shaquille O’Neal had been hustling as he used to always be hustling.

And then it happened, as it has always, inevitably happened with a team that is sometimes hard to love but always impossible to ignore.

Six-tenths of a second that perhaps changed the course of eight months.

A possible 25-foot bridge to a third consecutive NBA crown.

Phil Jackson laughed and said he couldn’t have possibly drawn up that last play, but it symbolized the best of the Lakers in the last three seasons.

Bryant takes the ball to the basket. He fails, but O’Neal is watching his back.

O’Neal takes the ball to the basket. He fails, but Horry is watching his back.

Horry’s shot felt like that Bryant-to-O’Neal alley-oop of 2000, but with a twist.

This didn’t clinch a series win, but it may have saved a season.

Said Brian Shaw: “Finishing like we did could take the steam out of them. I’m pretty sure they thought they had it in the bag.”

Said Rick Fox: “We hope this is the reason we win the championship.”

Of course, this could also be little more than a reason that it takes the Kings two more games to win the series.

They are clearly an equal team to the Lakers. They possibly will be welcoming injured Peja Stojakovic back to the lineup this week. They have two of the last three games at home.

The only thing they didn’t have Sunday was the ability to conjure up the one play that surely would have sent them to the NBA Finals. While available to anyone, it is the sort of conjuring that is usually only possible with champions.

Snarled Divac: “Just a lucky shot.”

Moaned Chris Webber: “We were one lucky play from winning.”

To which the Lakers should reply, indeed, and thank you.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.