Bryant had 25 points after three quarters, but he did not score for the first 10 minutes of the fourth. That’s when Fisher took over, hitting four of five Lakers baskets after Boston cut a 17-point first-half lead down to one point to reclaim the home-court advantage they lost when the Celtics won Game 2 in L.A.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXregiFoBM

Game 4 is Thursday night in Boston, and a Lakers victory would put them within one win of avenging the loss to their longtime rivals in the 2008 finals — not to mention the eight other times the Celtics have won an NBA title at the Lakers’ expense.  “Our thoughts are really just still on how disappointed we are, or were, losing that second game on our home court. I think that had more of our attention and focus than what happened in ’08,” Fisher said. “We didn’t doubt our ability to win here. … We understand when you want to be the best, you have to win wherever, whenever.”

Fisher finished with 16 points, and Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum had 10 rebounds apiece for Los Angeles.  Kevin Garnett, who had just six points in Boston’s victory Sunday, had 25 in Game 3. But Allen, who had 32 points in Game 2, missed all 13 field goal attempts — one shy of the NBA finals futility record — many of them while Fisher was guarding him. “It’s a hell of a swing, I’ll tell you that,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s basketball. That’s why you can’t worry about it. He’ll be back in the gym tomorrow and getting ready for the next game. … It happens to the best of us.”  The Celtics had high hopes after splitting the opening two games in Los Angeles, but the “Beat L.A.!” chants at the TD Garden couldn’t help them overcome poor shooting.  And it couldn’t stop Fisher.  “Derek Fisher was the difference in the game,” Rivers said. “He’s just a gutty, gritty player and he gutted the game out for them. I thought Kobe was struggling a little bit, and Fisher — he basically took the game over. … I don’t know what he had in the fourth quarter … but most of them were down the stretch.”  Fisher, 34, came into the league with Bryant in 1996 and has a history of clutch shots, from the heave with 0.4 seconds left to beat San Antonio in the 2004 playoffs to the late jumpers in a series-swinging victory over Orlando in Game 4 of last year’s finals. The Lakers went on to beat the Magic in five games, earning their 15th NBA title — second only to Boston’s 17.

“I think as you grow in this game and you put in the work that’s required to still be around 14 years later, you start to recognize that being in this moment, on this stage, it’s not a given. It’s not something that happens every season,” Fisher said. “Five or 10 years from now, when I’m long gone, I would have hated to feel like I didn’t just do everything I could have to help my team. Things have worked out well, and we have two more wins to get to really put a nice cap on it.”

The Lakers opened a 37-20 first-half lead, but Boston cut the deficit to four late in the third quarter and then made it 68-67 early in the fourth on consecutive drives by Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Rajon Rondo. With a chance to take the lead, Allen was called for an offensive foul away from the ball.

Fisher then scored four of the Lakers’ next five baskets to give them a five-point lead with about 4 1/2 minutes left. He scored another with 49 seconds left before being flattened by Davis, among others, and adding the free throw to make it a three-possession game.  “He saw the opening and went and made a very bold play. … It was imperative that it goes in for us to win,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “When he’s got an opportunity to hit a key shot, it seems like he’s always there and ready.”

Allen and Paul Pierce combined to go 1 for 13 from the field as Boston went nearly 6 minutes without a field goal in the first half. Pierce finished with 15 points, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range, but Allen never snapped out of it.  He missed all eight 3-pointers, all five 2-pointers and got to the line just twice. He was spared of matching the worst shooting performance in NBA finals history when Garnett was called for an offensive foul away from the ball in the final minute while Allen clanged another shot off the rim.  “We obviously didn’t expect him to go 0 for 13, but it’s a tough gig for him to run around offensively the way he has to and then have to guard Kobe on the other end,” Fisher said. “I mean, that takes anybody’s legs out. It takes my legs out chasing him. So there are going to be nights maybe when his legs aren’t there because he’s having to work so hard on both ends, but we won’t see 0 for 13 on Thursday night, that’s for sure.”

Garnett matched his Game 2 total of six points in the first 75 seconds of Game 3, and Rondo had Boston’s next three baskets to give Boston a 12-5 lead. But the Lakers ran off eight straight points to go ahead, scoring 32 of the next 40 points to open a 37-20 lead with 9:10 left in the half.  Rondo, who had a triple-double in Game 3, finished with 11 points, eight assists and three rebounds.

Watch Kobe Bryant Game Winner vs Grizzlies

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Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, including his team’s final nine points. His 3-pointer with 54 seconds left tied the game at 96-all. His game-winner came off an inbounds play 4 seconds after his layup attempt was blocked by Rudy Gay.  “He kept making plays at the end of the game,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said of Bryant. “Great players make great plays. You’ve got to give him his due (but) it hurts.”  Bryant’s late scoring spree came after the Lakers had missed five straight free throws and trailed, 95-90, with 2:59 left. He began his nine-point run with a jumper from the left wing with 2:23 to go to trim the Memphis lead to 95-92.

After Gay’s free throw, Bryant dropped in a technical free throw to make it 96-93. Gay scored again with 40 seconds left to up the Grizzlies lead to 98-93 before Bryant’s back-to-back 3-pointers won it for the Lakers.  “Only in Hollywood, I guess,” Bryant said. “It’s fun. It’s my responsibility to make plays down the stretch. I enjoy it.”  Pau Gasol added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the seventh time in their last eight road games.  “Nobody in the world is shocked anymore by what Kobe Bryant does and what he brings to the team,” Gasol said. “He really stepped up at the end. It feels good to have him back.”

The Grizzlies, who lost their fifth straight home game, were led by O.J. Mayo’s 25 points. Zach Randolph(notes) scored 20 and grabbed 14 rebounds, his seventh straight double-double.  Mayo’s two missed free throws with 18.8 seconds allowed the Lakers an opportunity to complete a comeback from nine points down early in the fourth quarter. Had Mayo made his free throws, the Grizzlies would have led by four.  “I’d love to take those last two free throws again,” Mayo said. “I’d love to take them and make them.”

Mayo had a last-second opportunity to win it for the Grizzlies, but his long jumper bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.  Absent from the Lakers lineup for his longest stretch in five years, Bryant scored nine points in the opening quarter, including a four-point play, and triggered a late first-quarter run with two breakaway dunks to increase the Lakers lead to 11.  Bryant last played Feb. 5 and Los Angeles went 4-1 without him.

The Grizzlies took their first lead early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Mayo for a 59-56 advantage and didn’t trail again until Bryant’s game-winning shot.
Bryant, averaging 42.5 points against Memphis in two previous games this season, began his late nine-point run with a jumper from the left wing with 2:23 to go to trim the Memphis lead to 95-92.  With Bryant scoring 17 of his points in the first half, the Lakers built several 14-point leads before settling for a 53-48 halftime advantage.  “We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game,” Hollins said. “But Kobe was better. That’s the bottom line.”

Winners of 32 NBA titles between them including the last two the Lakers and Celtics have met in the finals 11 times, from Bill Russell against Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, to Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird and on to the current matchup of Bryant facing the New Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. But while the Lakers’ superstar came through in the stretch for them, Boston’s couldn’t.

Watch The Highlights of Lakers Beating the Celtics

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Bryant complained of a stiff ankle after Friday night’s win in Philadelphia, and it seemed to bother him during the game. He shot just 8 for 20 but made the big one: making a move toward the basket before stepping back from Allen’s defense and swishing the ball through the net to give Los Angeles its only lead of the second half. “He had a couple of looks before that that were good looks, and he didn’t put them in. We were mystified by that,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who tied Pat Riley atop the franchise coaching list with his 533rd win in Los Angeles. “He told me the next one was going to go in, so we went with him.” Bryant finished with 19, Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 11 points and 11 boards for the Lakers, who won their fourth consecutive game. “I didn’t say give me one more chance. I said give me the damn ball,” Bryant said. “I never really give him much of a choice.”
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The Celtics led 81-70 before the Lakers made the next four baskets. Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer — his only basket of the game to stop the run, and it was still a three-point game with less than two minutes left when Bryant hit a pair of free throws to make it 87-86. Allen hit a pair of free throws, then Ron Artest sank a runner in the lane to make it 89-88. The Celtics got the ball to Pierce, who created a little too much space for himself, negating the basket. “I thought I made a good move. I got to my sweet spot,” Pierce said. “I guess the ref saw it differently and he made the call. That’s part of the game. That’s why you have referees.” Allen’s 3-point attempt at the final buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim. “Ten times out of 10 times, when you have Ray open like that I’m going to give him the ball,” Pierce said. “He got a good look at it. Sometimes it falls; sometimes it doesn’t.” The Celtics fell behind 22-10 in the first quarter, when Bynum scored 12 points, and trailed 40-34 midway through the second before scoring the next 15 points.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OqOUi4-TiI

Lamar Odom opened the second overtime with a putback basket that gave the Lakers the lead for good. Then Bryant took control, connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Lakers in front 109-103 with 2:37 left. Los Angeles outscored the Kings 11-2 in the second OT. Bryant wasn’t sure how the “funny bone” on his right elbow was hit, but went to the locker room briefly for some therapy, then returned for much of the fourth quarter, when he used primarily his left hand and attempted only one shot, which was blocked. “My arm went numb and it spazzed up,” Bryant said. “My moment came for me to step up in the 2nd overtime. The defense relaxed, Donte Greene put his hands down and left me open for those shots.”

It felt like old times for Bryant, who grew accustomed to antagonistic crowds earlier in his career at Arco Arena. Only the second sellout of the season, Kings fans loudly booed the Lakers when starting lineups were announced and began chanting “Beat LA!” It was reminiscent of the crowds that cheered the Kings in the Chris Webber era, when Sacramento was typically battling the Lakers for supremacy in the Western Conference. “To tell you the truth, it kind of stunk coming up here the last few years,” Bryant said. “It seems like they are getting behind this young team. It felt good to get booed like it used to be.”

Beno Udrih scored 23 points for the Kings, who held the Lakers scoreless in the final 3:35 of the fourth quarter to force overtime. Tyreke Evans had 18 points, Greene had 16 and Omri Casspi added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
It was another frustrating loss for the Kings, who went scoreless in the overtime period in a loss to Cleveland. Against the Lakers, the Kings squandered a seven-point lead in the first overtime and shot just 1-of 8 in the second OT.
The youthful Kings were stagnant on offense late in the first overtime and it carried over into the second, when their only basket was a driving layup by Evans with 3:01 remaining. “There’s no way in the world we should have lost that game,” Evans said. “I just thought toward the end things didn’t go our way. But it was also Kobe. He just took over the game with those two 3s.”

Pau Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who avoided losing consecutive games for the second time this season. Shannon Brown scored 15 points and Odom had 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Lakers lost 102-87 to Cleveland on Friday before a national TV audience and are in a stretch of four games in five days, concluding Tuesday at home against Golden State. They played without starting forward Ron Artest, who the team said suffered a concussion on Christmas evening, falling while carrying boxes down a flight of stairs and injuring his left elbow at his Los Angeles home. Artest was treated at UCLA Medical Center, undergoing a CT scan and receiving stitches in the back of his head and his elbow. The team said a neurologist examined Artest on Saturday. He is day to day and didn’t travel with the team on its Saturday flight to Sacramento. “With Ron out, it was definitely different,” Brown said. “Everyone on this team gets a chance to show their stuff at one time or another.”

After the Kings scored the first seven points in the first overtime, they went scoreless over the final 2:40 as the Lakers rallied. Gasol tipped in a missed shot by Derek Fisher from close range, tying the game at 101 with .04 seconds left. “It feels bad, especially when you know you had them,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “When we just relaxed for that one second, Kobe got two 3s. That is what hurt us. We can’t relax. It definitely felt good to be out there, but it just hurts to lose another one.”

The victory moved the Lakers (24-5) past idle Boston for the best record in the NBA. Bothered by his sore right arm, Bryant missed all four shots in the fourth quarter, when he began passing and shooting with his left. Yet Bryant did slap the ball away Evans in the closing seconds as the Kings never got a shot off, forcing overtime with a 94-all tie. Arguably the top rookie thus far, Evans had just two points in the overtime periods and shot 9 of 23 and committed five turnovers. “It was the worst game I have ever played in the NBA,” Evans said. “We had the lead and we had a couple of bad plays down the stretch.”

Overall, Bryant was his usual self offensively, but it was Brown helping the Lakers pull away in the fourth quarter. Brown scored eight points over a two-minute stretch, his three-point play putting Los Angeles ahead 92-85 with 4:23 remaining. Despite Bryant making his first five shots and scoring 16 points in the third quarter, the Kings would not back down. It took a late 3-pointer and a breakaway dunk by Bryant in the final 1:04 to pull the Lakers even at 78 heading into the fourth. Udrih capped off a highly productive first half by dribbling past Bryant and hitting a 3-pointer with a second left to give Sacramento a 57-55 lead. Making a rare start, Udrih scored 13 points and Greene had 11 for the Kings. Bryant had 14 points and Gasol added 12 for the Lakers, who shot 55 percent.

Bryant scored 26 points and Artest added 15 points and five steals as the Lakers raced away from Phoenix in the second half. Eight of their nine wins in a row have been at Staples Center, where the Lakers play 17 of their first 21 overall. More than 40 percent of the Lakers’ home games for the season will be finished by Friday. That’s why nobody in purple and gold is getting too excited about the first quarter of the season, even after a second impressive win over the Lakers’ closest competitors in the Pacific Division. “No partying at all,” said Pau Gasol, who scored 14 points. “We understand we have so many home games together. I want to see us do this on the road in tougher situations against teams that are ready to play. Right now we’re in good shape, but we’ve still got a long way to go.” Two nights after Bryant banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a one-point win over Miami, the Lakers didn’t need another lucky shot. They made a 15-1 run late in the third quarter keyed by Artest’s defense, holding Phoenix without a field goal for 3 1/2 minutes while jumping to a 23-point lead.

The well-rested Lakers improved to an NBA-best 16-3 with their second home win in 24 days over road-weary Phoenix, which got 18 points and eight rebounds from Stoudemire in its lowest-scoring game of the season. The result was almost predictable for a club playing its sixth game in six cities over the past 10 days, but Phoenix refused excuses after its third straight road loss by an average of more than 21 points. “They’re a little bit better than us right now,” said Steve Nash, who had 12 points and 10 assists while playing just 29 minutes and sitting out the fourth quarter along with Stoudemire and Grant Hill. “They’ve been playing together a little longer, and they’re bigger,” Nash added. “We’ve got some ground to make up. We’ve done well, but we’ve got a lot of work to do before we’re in they’re class, so it’s OK.” Los Angeles hasn’t played outside of California since Nov. 13, and two more dates still remain in a six-game homestand.
Bryant had nine points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers up by 21. The Suns trimmed the lead to 14 points in the fourth before Shannon Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers, finishing with 12 points. “We kind of pushed ourselves into the win,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It was a good game for us defensively. Any time you hold Phoenix under 100 points, you know that you did good.” Los Angeles has met under fortunate circumstances twice this season. On Nov. 12, the rested Lakers beat Phoenix at home 121-102, one night after the Suns played a tough home game and just as they did Saturday night against Sacramento.

Los Angeles also played its third straight game without forward Pau Gasol, who’s growing frustrated with the slow pace of his recovery after straining his right hamstring three weeks ago. But starting with a dunk by Bryant midway through the third quarter, the Lakers got into their ideal offensive flow for the first time this season while holding Atlanta scoreless for more than five minutes. The run was highlighted by a four-basket sequence that had the crowd on its feet. After Bryant made a graceful behind-the-back pass to Artest for a fast-break dunk, Odom threw an alley-oop pass to Bynum for another slam. Artest then got loose for a breakaway dunk, and Odom capped it with a midcourt steal and a pass to Bynum for an uncontested jam that put Los Angeles up 90-70. “That all goes back to Ron and what he was able to do with turnovers and deflections,” Odom said. “That’s going to be a big part of any success we have.” Bryant, Odom and Bynum all returned to the game after Atlanta trimmed a 24-point deficit to 14 midway through the fourth with help from rookie point guard Jeff Teague, who made another strong impression with 12 points in the final quarter of the Hawks’ fourth straight loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Lakers Bury Magic -- Watch Game 5 Highlights as Lakers Win 2009 NBA Finals

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpfGZCtstb8

For Lakers coach Phil Jackson, this was title No. 10, moving him past legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach for the most by a coach in league history.  “I’ll smoke a cigar in honor of Red,” Jackson said. “He was a great guy.”  For Pau Gasol. For Derek Fisher.   For Lamar Odom. For Trevor Ariza and for Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers, this was a title to savor. “It’s a dream come true,” Gasol said. “The completion of a goal.”  Odom scored 17 points, Ariza had 15, Gasol 14 and 15 rebounds, and Fisher, whose two big 3s in Game 4 saved L.A., had 13 points. 

It took longer than Kobe expected, but he has stepped from Shaquille O’Neal’s enormous shadow—at last.  Bryant averaged 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds and more than a dozen cold-blooded glares per game. He wasn’t out to make friends in these finals, he was out for redemption. Throughout the playoffs, he didn’t smile. He just snarled and bared his teeth.  “I was just completely locked in,” he said. “I was grumpy for a while and now I’m just ecstatic, like a kid in a candy store.”  O’Neal, who won three titles with Bryant before the pair had a major falling out, was glad to see his former teammate win another. “Congratulations Kobe, you deserve it,” O’Neal said on his Twitter page. “You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it.”  Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games.  Following the game, the pair shared a long embrace. Jackson, who once called Bryant “a selfish player” now sees the 30-year-old in a far different light. “He’s learned how to become a leader in a way in which people want to follow him,” Jackson said. “That’s really important for him to have learned that because he knew that he had to give to get back in return, and so he’s become a giver rather than just a guy that’s a demanding leader. That’s been great for him and great to watch.”

After the final horn, Bryant and his teammates bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Moments later, Bryant swept his two daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms.  It was just as he dreamed.  “It finally felt like a big old monkey was off my back,” he said. “It felt so good to be able to have this moment. For this moment to be here and to reflect back on the season and everything that you’ve been through, it’s top of the list, man.”  Bryant had come up short twice in the finals before, in 2004 with O’Neal against Detroit, and again last season against the Celtics in the renewal of the league’s best rivalry. The Lakers were beaten in six games, losing the finale in Boston by 39 points, a humiliating beat-down that Bryant and his teammates had trouble shaking. They went to training camp with one goal in mind. This was going to be their season, and except for a few minor missteps, it was. In the locker room afterward, Bryant made sure Jackson got a champagne shower. “He took his glasses off, threw his head back and soaked it all in because this is a special time,” Bryant said. “For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us.”

The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range. When the game ended, Howard didn’t move. As his teammates headed to the locker room, Howard stayed on Orlando’s bench and watched as the Lakers celebrated on the Magic’s floor. Jameer Nelson Orlando’s point guard who came back for the finals after missing four months with a shoulder injury, finally joined him The two sat stunned. “What I just told Jameer is look at it, just see how they’re celebrating,” Howard said. “It should motivate us to want to get in the gym, want to get better.”  Orlando was trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals. They had rallied to knock off Philadelphia and Boston, and then upset LeBron James and Cleveland in the conference finals. The Magic always felt they had a shot at history. Bryant, though, wouldn’t be denied his place. “They had an answer,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said, “for everything.”  Look for the LA Lakers to come back next year and repeat!

The Lakers can wrap up their first title since 2002 on Sunday in Game 5. If necessary, Games 6 and 7 would be back in Los Angeles at Staples Center.The only way the Lakers, who overcame a 12-point halftime deficit in Game 4 and improved to 7-0 after a playoff loss, can be denied a crown is if they lose three straight.  That hasn’t happened all season.  The Magic, commandos of the comeback in the postseason, need a rally for the ages. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the finals.  “There’s no reason for us to hold our heads down,” Orlando center Dwight Howard said. “We will believe until there’s no more games to be played.”

Watch Lakers vs Magic Game 4 Highlights -- 2009 NBA Finals -- Lakers win 99-91 in OT -- Jalen Rose on ESPN

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Howard was magnificent everywhere but at the free-throw line. He scored 16 points with 21 rebounds and a finals-record nine blocks. But he made just 6 of 14 foul shots, and it was his two crucial misses with 11.1 seconds to go in regulation that doomed the Magic. Orlando missed 15 free throws. “I just missed them,” Howard said. “I’ve been working on my free throws. They just weren’t falling tonight.” After Howard’s late misses, Fisher pulled up and without hesitating dropped a 3-pointer over Orlando’s Jameer Nelson with 4.6 seconds left to tie it at 87— and silenced the home crowd.“I just sensed that was the dagger,” Fisher said. “That was the one that would put us in a position to close out the game—even though the game wasn’t over.”  Before the first of his two big 3s, Fisher had missed his first five. “He’s been there before,” said Kobe Bryant, who had 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. “He has been there and done that. That’s Derek. He just has supreme confidence and I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones.”

At the end of regulation, Orlando had one final try. The Magic inbounded the ball to Mickael Pietrus, but his long and contested jumper was off.  Bryant scored two quick baskets in the overtime, and Howard tied it when he split two free throws with 1:27 remaining.  On L.A.’s next trip, Trevor Ariza grabbed his own miss to get another 24 seconds and Fisher lined up and drilled his 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 94-91.  As he retreated down court and Orlando called a timeout, the Lakers bench stormed onto the court and surrounded the popular Fisher, who felt obliged to come through.“  I have a responsibility to my team that if I’m going to be on the floor, then I have to make a difference,” he said. “None of us can continue to expect that Kobe is going to save us.”

In NBA finals history, only two players have made more 3s than Fisher’s 40: “It’s character,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, a victory away from a record 10th NBA championship ring. “We’ve always said the character has got to be in players if they are going to be great players. You just can’t draft it.”  Ariza and Pau Gasol each had 16 for Los Angeles. Ariza, traded by Orlando to L.A. in 2007, had 13 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the third quarter.  With his team up by three at the end of regulation, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy felt it was too early to foul the Lakers. With his team missing free throws, he didn’t want to get into a foul-shooting contest.  Later, he regretted the decision. “That one will haunt me forever,” he said. The Lakers spent the first half in foul trouble, and left the floor at halftime down 49-37. They came back a different team. “On a championship run, you’re going to have moments where you make big plays,” Bryant said. “And tonight was one of them.”