With the opportunity to ride an eight-game winning streak into the All-Star Break within their grasp, D-Fish and the Lakers fought hard against a scrappy Utah team, but in the end, like Derek’s late attempt at a game-tying three, they came up just short, losing 114-109 on the road.
No. 2 finished with 13 points and added two rebounds, two steals and an assist, but it wasn’t enough for the Lakers to complete a valiant fourth quarter comeback.
Derek opened the game hot, scoring eight points in the first quarter but the Jazz jumped out to a 31-29 lead after one.
The Lakers jumped out to a lead in the second with Derek tacking on three more points. He sank a free throw off a technical foul called on Matt Harpring. No. 2 would later end the Lakers first half scoring with a running jumper with 10 seconds to go.
D-Fish cooled off in the second half, but was the last Laker to score, draining two free throws with 21 seconds left.
TESTED NIGHTLY
Though they head into the break with a loss, a record of 42-10 still makes the Lakers the best team in the league. The key, according to D-Fish, has been playing every night as a test of their championship mettle, as quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune:
“That’s helped us a lot this year, more so than years even when I was in L.A. before, or in Golden State and here in Utah,” former Jazz guard Derek Fisher said before the game."
“When you’re playing and there’s not really an end purpose to it—you’re just trying to figure out how good you are—sometimes you get into those kinds of ups and downs and things start going bad and stay bad for a while.”
WEEKEND IN PHOENIX
Derek wasn’t selected to the Western Conference All-Star team, but he will be joining two teammates in Phoenix to help represent LA, as noted in the OC Register:
“Fisher will join Bryant and Gasol in Phoenix this weekend for the All-Star festivities because Fisher is taking part in the NBA’s “Shooting Stars” event Saturday night on a Los Angeles team with Lisa Leslie and Michael Cooper.”
One of the bigger stories in Phoenix this weekend is the reuniting of Derek’s current teammate, Kobe Bryant and their former teammate Shaquille O’ Neal, who will both play for the West for the first time since O’ Neal left LA. When asked to comment on the situation, No. 2 jokingly offered to take the heat off one the two players, as quoted by the LA Times:
“Both guys have accomplished a great deal since 2004,” Fisher said. “If they can’t have a good time at the All-Star game, then I’ll take one of their places. That’s how I feel about that.”
CRACKING THE CODE
ESPN’s Ric Bucher pens a great article for ESPN The Magazine about the league’s dress code and how it has changed the culture, Derek, as President of the NBA Players Association was quoted in the piece:
“You have to give some credit to the dress code,” says Lakers guard and NBA Players Association president Derek Fisher. “But the style of NBA players is different because the guys are thinking bigger. They’re expanding their minds beyond basketball.”
RELATED STORIES
Above the Rim, Beyond the Arc (ESPN the Magazine, February, 2009)
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3898919&campaign=rsssrch&source=derek+fisher
Lakers make Jazz’ victory meaningful (Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2009)
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_11685197
Lakers hit break on downer (OC Register, February 12, 2009)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-game-points-2306392-utah-odom
Kobe Bryant taking All-Star reunion in stride (LA Times, February 12, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-fyi12-2009feb12,0,6511079.story?track=rss
Los Angeles vs. Utah Play by Play (ESPN.com, February 11, 2009)
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=290211026
Los Angeles vs. Utah Box Score (ESPN.com, February 11, 2009)
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290211026