Recap Rewind: Lakers ties series with Kings thanks to late-game heroics from Robert Horry

Robert Horry has hit some big shots during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 3 of last year’s NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, Horry drained the 3-point dagger that gave the Lakers their first win on the road. Earlier this month, Horry’s timely 3-pointer against the San Antonio Spurs was the Lakers’ ticket to the Western Conference Fiinals.

But while Horry’s hit some big shots for the Lakers, he hit the biggest shot of his career against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night, and it’s hard to imagine he’ll ever hit a bigger one.

After trailing by as much as 24 points, the Lakers managed to get the game within 2 points with 11.8 seconds left on the game clock and they took a timeout to draw up a play. Coming out of the timeout, the ball ended up in who else but Kobe Bryant’s hands. Bryant got a good look, but it bounced off of the front of the rim. O’Neal beat Vlade Divac for the offensive rebound, but his shot attempt didn’t go in either.

Divac tipped the ball out for what many expected to be the final play of the game, but the ball ended up in the hands of Robert Horry, who, with just one second left on the game clock, put a prayer up from behind the arc and gave the Lakers their first lead since the 11:34 mark of the first quarter. That was the last lead they took, as the game ended 100-99 in the Lakers’ favor.

Horry scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and he did it on an efficient 3-4 shooting from the field. Kobe Bryant also helped the Lakers get their second wind, scoring 12 points on 6-12 shooting from the field in the second half. For context, he scored 14 points on 6-14 shooting form the field in the first half.

The Lakers will travel back to the Arco Arena on Sunday to upset the Kings on the road. Los Angeles handed Sacramento their first road loss of the postseason earlier this month, but this time the Kings will be desperate to get a win on their home floor with just three games left in the series. The Lakers can pull it off, but they’re going to need more from than they got from O’Neal on Sunday.

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