The 2009 incarnation of Lakers versus Celtics lived up to its top billing on Thursday night, and thanks to big plays by Derek — particularly with the game on the line — the Lakers claimed victory.
Leading by one with 16 seconds left in overtime, LA had a foul to give. Rather than wasting it right away, the Lakers waited and when the ball got to Ray Allen on the perimeter with three seconds to go, No. 2 lunged and fouled Allen before he could get a shot off.
The heads up play by D-Fish set up a high-pressure in-bounds pass by Allen. Allen passed in to Glen Davis who handed back to Allen on a screen. Allen took the screen and danced along the perimeter but Derek stuck to him like a glove.
Without an inch to breathe, Allen flung up a desperation shot that was blocked by Pau Gasol as the Lakers a 110-109 victory.
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| Derek, Pau and the Lakers celebrate after the final play (Getty Images). |
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times used the play to sum up the difference between the Lakers team that lost to Boston in the NBA Finals last season and the team that won last night.
“Last summer, the Lakers could never make the big defensive stop, consistently being swallowed up in Celtics screens and shoves.
On Thursday, Derek Fisher fought through a screen from wide Glen Davis to stick with Ray Allen on the game’s final play, just in time for Gasol to give long-armed help. Together they forced Allen to throw up an off-balance wounded duck that didn’t even make it to the basket.
Said Fisher: “I was like, ‘I’m getting through that hole.’ ”
SAW IT COMING
Derek also told reporters after the game that he knew what play was coming, as quoted in the LA Times:
“I knew that if
[Allen] was taking the ball out, I knew that it was coming back to him,” Fisher said. “Any basketball person in the world would know that you’re not going to need a shot at the end of the game and have Ray Allen take it out and then just watch from there. So I told Pau that the hand-off was coming.“As [Allen] went up, I contested it, and Pau, really, it was his left [hand] that really made it difficult for him to get a good look at the basket.”
Allen told anyone who would listen after the game that he was fouled on the play, “almost twisted,” but Derek didn’t see anything wrong with the airtight defense he provided, as quoted by ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan:
“How much contact did I make?” Fisher said, repeating a question. “I don’t think I made any contact with him. As he caught the ball, we were running together and I was getting through [the screen]. So if that’s a foul, I guess so, but in terms of when he goes into the shooting motion, there’s definitely no contact there. But the game wasn’t decided only by that one particular play.”
MORE THAN JUST ONE PLAY
The defensive effort was the capper on a giant victory for the Lakers with many thanks to Fish, but as Derek noted, it was more than just one play.Besides his tight defense, No. 2 tossed in 13 points and five assists for good measure. He also drew Kevin Garnett’s sixth foul on a loose ball, forcing the Celtics to play the last four minutes of regulation and all of overtime without KG. With Garnett out, the Lakers exposed the paint as Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol scored down low.
D-Fish also had three steals, the most for any player wearing purple or green Thursday night.
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