When it comes to grabbing a critical rebound in crunch time, you might not think of D-Fish.
But in Wednesday night’s 129-121 victory over Golden State, Derek’s most important contribution came off the glass.
With just over four minutes remaining in the game and the Lakers trailing by one, Derek went sky high in the middle of a pack of larger players and pulled down an defensive rebound on a Monta Ellis miss.
No. 2’s board allowed the Lakers to keep the deficit at one and seconds later Trevor Ariza hit a three-point dagger to give LA a two-point lead that they would never relinquish.
Less than two minutes later, with the Lakers ahead four, Derek cleared out with another offensive board helping to keep the lead intact.
Two rebounds won’t stand out on the stat sheet, but without those critical boards, the outcome of the game may have been altered.
RAINING FROM THREE
D-Fish’s boards made the biggest difference in the end, but the veteran point guard also had a hot hand from beyond the arc, knocking down four of LA’s nine three-pointers to account for all 12 of his points.
All seven of the shots No. 2 took during the game were from downtown.
Derek got the Lakers on the board quickly, knocking down a triple just 18 seconds in to give LA a 3-0 lead.
D-Fish bided his time after his first miss, waiting for his moment to strike again. That moment came late in the second quarter when his second trey cut a six-point Warriors lead to three. But the Lakers still went into the locker room trialing by six when Derek’s attempt at a buzzer beater missed the mark.
Not to be undone, No.2 came out of the locker room and avenged his pre halftime miss by draining his first three of the second half. He added another three moments later as the Lakers kept pace before finally moving ahead in the fourth.
Derek finished with three assists, three rebounds and a steal to go along with his 12 points in the victory.
NEXT UP
After surviving a tough back-to-back, the Lakers get a day of rest before they welcome the New Orleans Hornets to town Friday night. Derek will matchup with All-Star point guard Chris Paul in the battle of two Western Conference title contenders. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PST and all the action can be seen live on ESPN.
REALTED STORIES
Lakers at Warriors Box Score (NBA.com, February 18, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090218/LALGSW/boxscore.html
Lakers at Warriors Play by Play (NBA.com, February 18, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090218/LALGSW/playbyplay.html