Good things come in threes for Lakers’ Derek Fisher

After further review, Derek Fisher’s last-minute, series-tilting, arena-deflating three-pointers still counted. In fact, his shot at the end of the fourth quarter was even more than the end of an 0-for-5 night from long distance for the Lakers’ veteran guard.

It was the left-handed Fisher going to his right, off a couple of long, space-consuming dribbles -- a rarity for the spot-up shooter -- before hoisting a 26-footer on the move over Jameer Nelson with 4.6 seconds left in regulation.

Piece of cake, no?

Somewhere, Robert Horry was smiling, even though Fisher said he wasn’t close to equaling his former teammate because “I’m quite a few rings shy of where he stands.”

Just the same, Fisher seemed relieved to have contributed in a playoff season that hadn’t been kind to him -- 7.6 points a game and only 27.1% from three-point range coming into Thursday.

Fisher drilled another long three-pointer, this one from 27 feet, with 31.3 seconds left in overtime to help the Lakers take a 99-91 victory overshadowed only by their imposing 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Orlando.

Media criticism had been on the rise against a player who always has had time for revealing, in-depth interviews with reporters. Lakers fans had also been questioning whether the 34-year-old had lost a step.

“I’ve heard different versions of it,” Fisher said. “I think what has really allowed me to continue to remain confident and play better as things have gone on has really been the support of friends and family who have thought of me, prayed for me. But the guys on the team are just as unbelievable. They ride with me good or bad.”

Fisher was delighted after hitting the second three-pointer, as was Kobe Bryant, who joined the Lakers the same year as Fisher, back in 1996. Bryant was a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Fisher a little-known draft pick from Arkansas Little Rock, taken 24th overall.

Bryant embraced the nostalgia of 13 years ago, when he and Fisher were rookies together, forced to practice on days of back-to-back games while “everybody else would wait and rest at the hotel.

“A lot of times we were the only two there, so we ended up playing full-court one-on-one basketball and we were almost fighting, literally, just because we were both competitive,” Bryant said. “From that point forward, I just gained so much respect for him because of his competitiveness and his ability to hit big shots.”

Some media members, particularly those in the Orlando area, are pointing out that Trevor Ariza should have been fouled purposely near midcourt before finding Fisher open on the right side at the end of regulation. Orlando was leading by three at the time and still had a foul to give before the Lakers would have been in the bonus.

Not that the Lakers cared.

After all, they moved to within a victory of the franchise’s 15th championship and broke a seven-game road losing streak in the Finals that began with three consecutive losses in Detroit in 2004.

Fisher has already reminded the team of a Game 5 collapse against Indiana in the 2000 Finals, the Lakers a little too comfortable with a 3-1 series lead on the way to a 33-point loss in Indianapolis. They managed to wrap up the 2000 championship back in Los Angeles in Game 6, but Fisher still made it part of the postgame locker-room conversation Thursday.

“They thought everything was going to be good, the other team was just going to lay down,” Ariza said. “[Fisher] just told us to stay focused because it’s not over. The series is 3-1 and the goal is to win four games.”

Remember Phoenix!

No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, and only eight teams in NBA history have erased a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

The most recent team to do it? The Phoenix Suns, against the Lakers in the first round of the 2006 playoffs. It was Phil Jackson’s first season back with the Lakers after a one-year absence from coaching.

Not so fast

Maybe the Lakers don’t have to choose between soon-to-be free agents Ariza and Lamar Odom.

At least, that’s what Jackson hinted Friday.

“You know, I don’t know if that’s actually what’s going to happen,” Jackson said. “I mean, that’s not written in stone, that we have to make a decision between those two players. I don’t think that’s a case at all. This is just part of the NBA. . . . You have players that you have decisions to make in the free-agent [market].”

The Lakers probably will decide on Ariza and Odom after studying the NBA’s new luxury-tax figure when it is announced in July. The Lakers will pay about $7 million in luxury taxes this season.

It is possible that they will keep Ariza and Odom if they win a championship and Jackson persuades team owner Jerry Buss to spend well beyond the $74 million the Lakers have already committed to only eight players on next season’s payroll.

Ariza, 23, makes $3.1 million this season and Odom, 29, is on the Lakers’ books for $14.1 million this season. Ariza is expected to be able to at least double his salary, and Odom almost certainly will have to take a pay cut regardless of where he ends up.

Etc.

The Lakers and Magic also went to overtime in Game 2, making this the first Finals with two overtime games since 1984 (Lakers-Boston). There has never been a Finals with three overtime games. . . . Neither team practiced Friday, though both will resume practicing today.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com