The Texas two-step has never looked so good.
One night after taking down the Houston Rockets in a game few gave them a chance to win, Derek and the Lakers scored another big victory on Thursday, and in the process, moved one step closer to home-court advantage in the Western Conference.
Behind five players scoring in double figures, including D-Fish with 10, the Lakers upended the previously surging Spurs, 102-95, in San Antonio.
Derek scored half of his points in the first quarter, dropping in an early two and later stepping back to hit a long-range three as LA hopped out to a 35-17 lead after one.
Once they were ahead, The Lakers defense simply held the Spurs off. The Spurs could only get as close as four as the Lakers teased them before jumping back out to a double-digit lead.
No. 2 popped off with 4-9 shooting and was 2-5 from beyond the arc for his 10 points in just under 32 minutes of game action.
PACIFIC CHAMPS
With the win the Lakers clinched the Pacific Division title and an automatic playoff berth, but for LA, the bar is set so high that division championships are no longer a measure of success, as noted by Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
So there was going to be a huge celebration on the flight back home after the game?
“Yeah, you know, we’re really big on Pacific Division titles around here,” Kobe Bryant said sarcastically.
COLD-BLOODED
After last night’s win, the Lakers were forced to brave the cold.
No, there weren’t any winter storms breezing through San Antonio, rather, there was no hot water in the visiting showers, as noted by the LA Times:
Derek Fisher said there is a sign near the shower that said to get hot water that all the showers had to be turned on.
Well, the Lakers turned all the showers on, but there still was no hot water.
So the Lakers just took cold showers.
SUNDAY MATINEE
The Lakers get a bit of a breather before finishing their run through Texas this Sunday when they take on the Mavericks in Dallas.
The Lakers have already taken care of the Mavs twice this season, once at Staples Center and once on the road in Big D. D-Fish is averaging 12.5 points per game against Dallas this season.
Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 PST and all the action can be seen live, nationwide, on ABC.