The 2009 Orlando Magic were really close to winning it all, but still so far away

The Orlando Magic came a free throw shy of tying the 2009 NBA Finals. But that hides just how far they were from toppling the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Orlando Magic led by five points with one minute to play in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the 2009 Finals. They were one minute away from tying their series with the Los Angeles Lakers and playing a pivotal Game 5 on their home floor at the Amway Arena.

This is not the part anyone talks about in the frustration over what would turn into a devastating loss. This is like the fact the Magic had a 21-point lead in the first half of Game 1 of the 1995 Finals. A factoid lost to history because of the moment that came to define the game.

The Magic were up three with 10 seconds left. Dwight Howard was on the line with two free throws to make it a four-point game. In Nick Anderson-like fashion, he missed both. The Lakers called timeout and opted to go the full length of the floor.

From there, the history probably forgets exactly how that play went down. The Magic put a bit too much pressure in the backcourt up three — a mistake from Stan Van Gundy.

They trapped Kobe Bryant on the inbounds. He flipped it to Trevor Ariza where Jameer Nelson slid over to impede Ariza’s progress. From there, he slung it to Derek Fisher. Jameer Nelson moved over quickly to recover and try to contest. Maybe he was hanging a bit too loose afraid of getting beat off the dribble (which would have been fine up three with such little time).

Fisher drained the three and forced overtime. Orlando was clearly rocked and struggled to recover in overtime.

Bryant had a strong overtime on his way to 32 points. His big play was a pass. After shrugging off a double team from Nelson, who curiously ended up on the floor, he fed Fisher again who buried the Magic with a three to put the Lakers up three. Hedo Turkoglu took a rushed three with about 30 seconds left and the Lakers raced ahead for a 99-91 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead.

It is one of the most heartbreaking losses in Magic history. Orlando went from on the doorstep of tying the series up — a best-of-three series away from the franchise’s first title — to virtually out of the series.

Indeed, the Magic were largely uninspired in Game 5. After recovering from so many tough losses throughout that 2009 Playoff run, the Magic had no more reserves to go to.

The whole Game 4 sequence, and even the two previous games before, led to one inescapable conclusion — the Lakers were just better than the Magic.

Orlando was as close as it has ever come to winning a title and yet it felt so far away.

The Magic’s lone win in the series came in Game 3 — a 108-104 win where the Magic shot a NBA Finals-record 62.5 percent from the floor. The broadcasters throughout Game 4 tried to pump up the storyline that the Lakers had a lot to feel good about even in defeat because it took a record-breaking performance to beat them by just a small amount.

Indeed, it felt like Orlando had to scratch and claw for everything in the series. The Lakers had a clear experience edge. And Bryant’s shot making was something Orlando could not contend with or mimic. The Magic had to execute cleanly to find offense against the Lakers’ length, one of the few teams who could handle Rashard Lewis at power forward.

Where the Magic were playing it seemed with house money, the Lakers had the quiet confidence of a champion about them.

It felt that way the entire Game 4. Even as the Magic built a 12-point halftime lead. The Lakers never seemed rattled. Orlando certainly never put their foot down or raced too far ahead. Despite their big lead, they left points on the board with 17 turnovers and 15 missed free throws. Dwight Howard had seven turnovers himself.

The Magic’s ultimate collapse in Game 4 was a collection of moments that kept the Lakers in the game. It was as much a lack of attention to detail throughout the game that cost the Magic.

It is then everything about that moment — from Howard’s missed free throws to Stan Van Gundy’s decision to have the Magic press when the Lakers took the ball out of the backcourt to Rashard Lewis‘ decision to double-team Kobe Bryant on the inbounds to Jameer Nelson moving off Derek Fisher to stop Trevor Ariza to his late recovery — that led to the defeat. And it was all the missed opportunities — the turnovers and missed free throws — that consistently gave the Lakers life, leaving that door slightly open.

That is how the entire series went for Orlando.

All that suggests the Magic were not ready for that moment. They were not really prepared for the gravity of what they were doing.

That entire series, the Magic seemed to chase the Lakers. They came close, sure. Hedo Turkoglu’s block on Kobe Bryant to set up the failed Courtney Lee inbound alley-oop does not get talked enough. Two of the five games went to overtime. The Magic had every chance to turn that series around.

But they did not.

The joy and carefree attitude that seemed to carry them through the Eastern Conference playoffs seemed crushed by the gravity and closeness of achieving their ultimate goal.

Sports Illustrated famously asked before the Playoffs in 2009: “Too Much Fun: Can the Magic’s dunk machine get serious for a moment”