ORLANDO - The shock would have been if Derek Fisher had missed.
He had taken five 3-pointers and missed them all. Throughout the postseason, his once faithful shot had betrayed him. Burned by everyone from Aaron Brooks to Chauncey Billups to even Rafer Alston a game before, the evidence seemed mounting that he should be replaced by one of the younger, swifter point guards serving as his understudies.But after his OT 3-pointer, he knew. He let out a small, satisfied smile and shook a fist even though there was still more than a half-minute left for the Magic to climb out of their three-point hole.
"You know, I just sensed that was the dagger," he said. "That was the one that would put us in a position to close out the game, even though the game wasn't over at that point."
He had, however, done enough. He had missed shots all night, but he made the ones he had to.
This wasn't a surprise. It was typical.
"He's been there before," Bryant said. "He's been there and done that. In the locker room I was kind of teasing him a little bit because he was 0-for-5 on 3-pointers until he made those last two. But that's Derek.
"That's what makes champions."
