Magic Finally Nets a Win in the Finals

Magic 108, Lakers 104

ORLANDO, June 9 -- The Orlando Magic set an NBA Finals record for field goal percentage in a game and a half, Rafer Alston broke out of a two-game slump, Dwight Howard dunked, Rashard Lewis laughed in the face of pressure and Kobe Bryant, the game's best closer, lost his ability to finish in the fourth.

But for a franchise that already had to wait 20 years for its win the Finals, it seemed like a cruel joke for black and blue confetti to fall from the rafters as officials reviewed film to determine if the game was complete. Magic fans were ready to erupt when Lewis held the ball as time expired, but the celebration was delayed before officials decided that Bryant had fouled Lewis with 0.2 of a second remaining, sending him to the foul line, where Lewis made both free throws as the Magic finally won, 108-104, at Amway Arena.

Lewis and Howard both had 21 points and Alston added 20 to lead the Magic to its first Finals victory in seven attempts and close the gap to 2-1 in this best-of-seven series. "This is good for the franchise to obviously get the first win in the NBA Finals," Lewis said, "but we're still down 2-1. Locker room was excited about winning the ballgame, but at the same time, we know this game is over."

If the Magic had gone down 3-0 at home against the Lakers, this series certainly would be. The Magic hasn't had the best history in the NBA Finals, but it avoided moving any closer to matching the Baltimore/Washington Bullets for most games lost before the first Finals victory (nine). Cleveland remains the only franchise to reach the Finals and never win.

The Magic lost by 25 points in the opener, but an overtime loss in Game 2 - in which rookie Courtney Lee missing a layup with 0.6 of a second remaining - was meant to be yet another tragic example of a supposedly cursed franchise that has had to deal with 14 years of discussing Nick Anderson's four missed free throws in the first game of an eventual sweep to the Houston Rockets in the 1995 Finals.

But in the same building, which is under its second different name than it was then, the Magic moved beyond Anderson, and beyond the Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway era in its entirety with a gutsy win that required clutch performances on both ends of the floor.

Lewis hit the biggest shot -- a long jumper that gave Orlando a three-point lead with 1:06 remaining -- and Howard made the biggest defensive play -- slapping the ball away from Bryant, which led to a turnover with 28.7 seconds remaining.

Bryant had a game-high 31 points, but he missed five free throws and was limited to just 10 in the second half. "It was a bad night," said Bryant, who tapped his head in frustration after missing a free throw with 59.8 seconds remaining.

He was later given a chance for redemption when Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol converged to force Lewis into missing a shot off the side of the backboard, giving the Lakers the ball down by two. But as Bryant dribbled and shimmied trying to split a double team from reserve guard Mickael Pietrus and Howard, Howard batted the ball away from him. Gasol (23 points) hit the floor to recover the ball, but Bryant fumbled the pass into the arms of Pietrus. Bryant fouled him, then Pietrus hit the next two free throws to give Orlando a four-point lead. The Lakers missed four straight three-point attempts, before Bryant made a layup. He then fouled Lewis to extend the celebration for several minutes. "You know we're all frail as humans," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said, when asked about Bryant. "Sometimes not as much as others."

The Magic has proven to be a resilient team this postseason, becoming the first team to ever come back from a 3-2 deficit against the Boston Celtics, winning Game 7 on the road. It also bounced back from an incredible, LeBron James three-pointer in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals to win the next two games and eventually the series against the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers. After dealing with questions about how it would respond to a disappointing overtime loss on Sunday, the Magic again bounced back with a win.

Orlando shot an NBA Finals-record 75 percent in the first half and it shot 62.5 percent for the game. This came from the same team that shot 29.9 percent in Game 1, the second-worst shooting performance in Finals history. "This is a crazy game, it really is," Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "The one thing you can't question with our team is our resilience in situations like that, whether it's game to game, minute to minute, our team will keep playing. I felt like we held our composure pretty well."

It helped that Rafer Alston stopped moping over the return of all-star point guard Jameer Nelson and how it would affect his minutes. He complained about losing his rhythm and Van Gundy responded to his poor performance by benching him for the final nine minutes of regulation in Game 2. But after combining to score just 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting - including 0 for 8 from three-point range - in the first games, Alston bested his output in the first quarter. He scored 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting and made his lone attempt from three-point range. Van Gundy gave him a pep talk to "play your game."

"Stan and I have a great relationship. He understands that he's trying to coach to win games, I'm trying to play and help him win games, help this team," Alston said. "I was aggressive from start to finish. I was able to make shots."

Alston wasn't the only Magic player to disappear and reappear in Game 3, as Pietrus also helped provide a spark, scoring 18 points off the bench. He added a clutch rebound tip dunk with 2:19 remaining, and helped limit Bryant.

"We lost two games, but there's no need to roll over," said Howard, who added 14 rebounds and two blocks. "We've come a long way, and our goal is to win a championship. We're going to continue to fight."