Derek and the Lakers will look to continue their winning ways in friendly confines as they play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at the Staples Center.
The Lakers homestand will be a short one with the Jazz awaiting in Utah on Wednesday, but the Lakers got a chance to practice at their own facility on Monday.
LA will hope to avoid getting too comfortable and Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters Monday that the goal is to maintain the energy they played with on the road. Derek answered questions about the team’s energy with his tongue firmly pressed in his cheek, as quoted by the LA Times:
“If he was concerned about energy, we wouldn’t be here today,” Derek joked.
But No. 2 conceded that the Lakers will have to keep rolling if they want to head into the All-Star Break on a high note and will face a challenge coming off a tiring trip, as quoted by the LA Daily News:
“The NBA definitely didn’t give us some love on this one,” Fisher said. “We would rather have gone to Utah and just kept going on the road trip…we’ll just try to keep this momentum going.”
D-Fish and the Lakers will play the Thunder for the first time since the team relocated from Seattle for the 2008-2009 season.
STRONG SHOWING
Monday was also a day for reflection for D-Fish and his cohorts as they got a chance to slow down and think about what they had accomplished over the last six games. Derek was quoted by the LA Times on that matter:
“I think under the circumstances and some of the situations we found ourselves in, with losing Andrew in the first half of the Memphis game, having to go to Boston and having to go to Cleveland, I do think that was an element of mental toughness and the fight that really came through in a lot of our guys on this team,” point guard Derek Fisher said.
“I know we feel great about what we just accomplished. But I don’t think that we are overconfident or more confident than we were coming into this season.”
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Lakers don’t want to et too comfy at home (LA Times, February 10, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers10-2009feb10,0,101299.story?track=rss
Notes from Monday’s practice (LA Times, February 9, 2009)
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2009/02/my-camera-arm-i.html
New Lakers addition Morrison finds trouble a Bruin (LA Daily News, February 10, 2009)
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