Today at Orlando Magic, 8 p.m.

TV/radio: ABC; 97.5 FM

Los Angeles leads series 2-1

ORLANDO, Fla. - Rafer Alston had waited long enough, as long as the emotions and confidence welling up inside him would allow.

The time had come for Rafer to step aside and for Skip to My Lou to take over.

Alston flashed a 360-degree spin to swim past Derek Fisher. He slowed for a hesitation dribble to surge past Lamar Odom. He leaped and reached around Pau Gasol, then flipped his drive in off the glass, as if, instead of playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, he was back at Rucker Park.

The Orlando Magic had arrived in the Finals, their offensive revival epitomized by the point guard who went from atrocious to on fire.

"After the first one, Dwight (Howard) ? was like, ?Do it again, do it again,'?" Alston said. "Stan (Van Gundy, the Magic coach) wants me to stay more Rafer Alston, and no Skip to My Lou. Dwight and Rashard (Lewis) wanted me to be Skip. I tried it again, and it worked."

Pretty much everything worked for the Magic, who went from 29.9 percent shooting in Game 1, the second-worst showing ever in the Finals, to 62.5 percent on Tuesday, the best ever in the Finals.

Alston went from making 17.6 percent of his shots and averaging five points in the first two games of the series to hitting eight of 12 and scoring 20 in Tuesday's 108-104 victory.

"These guys kept firing me the ball, they kept texting me telling me to play my game, do the things I'm accustomed to doing," Alston said. "It's somewhat embarrassing that they're just going to keep leaving you open, basically a signal that, hey, that guy can't play, can't shoot. Houston is when I really reverted back to poor shooting. That's when they started again to leave me open constantly.

"It just forced me to stay in the gym ? longer and continue to work on it and just have the confidence and belief that the next one is going in."

School of hard knocks

Alston, however, has always sought to triumph over adversity, going from "poverty" in Queens, N.Y., to legendary playground status, from junior college to Fresno State and from the And1 Tour to the NBA.

He had an emotionally charged, tumultuous season in Toronto before becoming a four-year starter with the Rockets . He went from stunned by the trade-deadline move from the Rockets to the Magic to so determined to see the bright side that when the teams met he hugged Rockets owner Leslie Alexander.

"You bounce around, don't handle your business in the classroom, are forced to go to junior college, bounce from one junior college to the next, get drafted and bounce from the CBA to NBDL and then find your niche in this league," Alston said. "I think 75, 80 percent of players in this league don't take that road, but it shows the perseverance and dedication it takes to make it this goal to be at the ultimate level.

"When you're growing up below the poverty line, you can get so caught up and frustrated about the way life is for you. For me, it was great to get away from that and go to the park and have so much fun and excitement. You know going back home, the living conditions are not their best.

"I'm living proof that anything is possible."

Fortuitous trade

As far as adversity goes, a few missed shots cannot compare to the challenges that came before. The trade, he said, was an opportunity.

"I'm blessed Houston sent me to another contending team," he said. "They could have sent me to so many teams that weren't in the playoff picture, or would make the playoffs and probably wind up losing early. They sent me to a team with this chance. It caught me by surprise, but once it set in, I was excited."

There are other things on his to-do list, but as with the Rockets , it seems the success of the Magic offense will be closely tied to Alston's ability to make the shots opponents almost beg him to take.

"Once I got traded to Houston, I figured that out rather quickly ? if there's one guy they're going to double off and leave off, it would be me," Alston said. "I may not shoot at a 55, 50-some percent clip, but if I can shoot in the 45, 46 percent area and be able to make the wide-open shots, it'll help the team out a great deal."

Made-for-TV movie

It has been this way for so long and Alston has bounced back so often, Van Gundy knew just what to say.

"I'm a motivational genius," Van Gundy said. "I thought for two days about what to say to him, and I said, ?Play your game.' It took me two days to come up with that. Rafer has bounced back well in the playoffs before."

Alston has bounced back for much longer than that, until it all came together in a flash of Skip, Rafer and everything in between on the biggest stage.

"His way was really unorthodox," said Odom, a childhood friend and former teammate. "He made it from Rucker Park to Fresno State to the NBA. That's why he's so special. His story is legendary. Movie-like."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com