D-Fish knocked down four of his five shots and netted 11 points in just over 21 minutes of action as the Lakers cruised to a 107-89 victory over the Thunder on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers were warned not to take the surging Thunder lightly and they heeded those words. LA came out heavy-handed and took a 37-20 lead by the end of the first quarter. From there they led wire-to-wire and beat the Thunder from pillar to post.
No. 2 scored six of his 11 points in the first quarter, draining back-to-back jumpers midway through the frame and adding on a layup with 4:24 to go as the Lakers pushed their lead to double digits.
With 4:04 left to go in the frame and LA leading by 10, Derek checked out of the game as Jordan Farmar checked in for the first time, as noted by Kevin Ding of the OC Register:
“Early on Tuesday night, there was Derek Fisher smiling at Jordan Farmar when Farmar came in as the Lakers’ first sub, replacing Fisher even though Fisher had shot 3 for 3 from the field with two assists in the first seven minutes. Fisher knows how happy Farmar is to be getting more playing time.”
No. 2 remained on the bench for nearly an entire quarter as the Lakers’ “bench mob” got an extended run with an early lead. When he checked back in D-Fish found the bottom of the well with two free throws to give the Lakers a 19-point lead with 1.24 left.
Moments later, Derek’s attempt at a buzzer beater clanked off the mark, to end the half. Despite the miss, LA still led by 24.
LA held steady in the second half and Fish knocked down one last shot, a three of course, to keep the mo’ flowing. After the bucket, Derek stayed on for a few more minutes and dished out two more assists (he finished with five) before checking out for the night with 3:58 to go in the third.
In a restful evening, No. 2 finished with 11 points, five assists, a steal and a rebound.
BRACKET CHALLENGE
No. 2’s NCAA Bracket made it through the weekend with 47 points, a respectable number to say the least, but D-Fish trails teammates Shannon Brown, Adam Morrison (51 each) and Luke Walton (49) in the Lakers team pool.
John McClory of Examiner.com takes a deeper look at Fish’s picks:
“Derek Fisher is a few points behind with 47, but never underestimate his veteran prowess.
Fisher got off to a slow start with his first round predictions. He rolled the dice with a few upsets: VCU over UCLA, Temple over Arizona St., and—sigh—Utah St. over Marquette. OK, now I’m starting to think these guys have beef with Marquette. What’s the deal? I need to know.
Unlike his aforementioned teammates, Fish picked Kansas to represent the Midwest region in the Final Four, with Pittsburgh, UConn, and UNC rounding out the bunch. That’s a veteran move, as they say. Kansas is a sneaky presence in that region.
Fish likes UNC to emerge victorious in the final against UConn.
No sign of bias or ‘homer-ism’ in Fish’s bracket because, well, Arkansas-Little Rock was a no-show. Maybe next year. A savvy veteran like Fish would never openly play favorites, right?”
RELATED STORIES
Lakers at Thunder Box Score (NBA.com, March 24, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090324/LALOKC/boxscore.html
Lakers enjoying the ride (OC Register, March 25, 2009)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/odom-lakers-game-2345280-fisher-getting
Lakers rest easy with victory (LA Daily News, March 25, 2009)
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_11989556?source=rss
Lakers go wire-to-wire (LA Times, March 25, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-thunder25-2009mar25,0,5040568.story?track=rss
You’re invited to a Lakers pool party! (LA Sports examiner, March 25, 2009)
http://www.examiner.com/x-2505-LA-Sports-Examiner~y2009m3d25-Youre-invited-to-a-Lakers-pool-party
