D. Fish and the Lakers ran their win streak to three games Monday night with a 126-117 victory over the New York Knicks.
A game after losing center Andrew Bynum to an MCL tear in his right knee (out 8-12 weeks), No. 2 and his Laker teammates stepped their games up. Derek recognized the hot hands of teammates Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, who combined for the most points by a dual this season (92).
Derek racked up three points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in the victory.
As related by Howard Beck of the New York Times, Fish was part of a fourth quarter Lakers assault that put the game away.
After a Derek Fisher 3-pointer, Bryant scored another 4 points, hitting one basket after driving right to left across the key, then pulling up and fading away. He finished the quarter with a jumper over the outstretched arms of Danilo Gallinari, then a pass to Jordan Farmar for a 3-pointer that made it 96-86. The Knicks fell behind by 20 in the fourth quarter.
In just over 25 minutes of game action, the Lakers had a 13-point advantage in point differential while No. 2 was in the game.
THREE POINT ASSASSIN
Monday night, Derek knocked in his 76th 3-point field goal of the season, ranking him in the Top 30 in the league. D. Fish has also been insanely accurate, knocking down a staggering 43.9 percent from behind the arc.
That’s good for 10th in the NBA.
NEXT UP
Derek and the Lakers travel north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors this Wednesday at 4:00 PM PST. The game can be seen in Los Angeles on KCAL TV.
RELATED STORIES
Bryant puts on a Show, Setting Garden Records (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/sports/basketball/03knicks.html?_r=1&ref=sports
Kobe’s 61-point night eases Lakers’ collateral damage (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 3, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-andrew-bynum3-2009feb03,0,1436040.story
Lakers vs. Knicks Boxscore (NBA.com, Feb. 3, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090202/LALNYK/boxscore.html