When people think of Robert Horry’s Lakers career, they will remember his game-winning shots, and the one that always comes to mind is the buzzer-beating 3-pointer he hit versus the Sacramento Kings to win Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
But earlier in that postseason, he knocked down another clutch shot that some may not remember too well.
The Lakers started the 2002 NBA Playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that had almost ended their dynasty before it even started two years earlier.
L.A. had swept Portland in the first round in 2001, and it was looking to do the same a year later.
The Lakers won the first two contests of the series, but doing so wasn’t as easy as it was in ’01 when they went 15-1 en route to the NBA championship.
Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t himself due to an arthritic big toe, while Kobe Bryant shot terribly in those two games.
Game 3 was tight, and it would be up to another Laker to put it away.
With 2.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter and L.A. down by two, Horry took a pass from Bryant and nailed a 3-pointer to send his team to the next round.
It was indeed a sign of things to come later that spring, as he helped the Lakers claim their third straight world title.
