For a team that was supposedly struggling, D-Fish and the Lakers sure do win a lot of games.
No. 2 scored 15 points as the Lakers overcame a halftime deficit to post a 15-point victory over the Pistons for their first win in Detroit in seven years and their fourth straight win overall.
“Finally, right?” Derek remarked, as quoted by the LA Times.
D-Fish had his hands all over the third quarter rally that put the Lakers ahead for good, as Mike Brenashan of the Times reported:
“Fisher had 15 points, five during the third-quarter run that started shortly after former Lakers center Kwame Brown gave the Pistons a 55-50 lead with 6:42 left in the quarter. Detroit wouldn’t score again until 33 seconds into the fourth quarter.”
Derek scored 10 of his 15 in that third quarter. He drained back-to-back jumpers just inside the nine-minute mark to cut Detroit’s lead from seven to two, then came back four minutes later to hit a three that gave the Lakers a four-point lead. No. 2 was fouled on LA’s next possession and sank two of two from the stripe to push the lead to six.
After the game, D-Fish beamed at the team’s grit to comeback from a deficit, as quoted in the OC Register:
“I was proud of the way we responded in the third quarter,” Fisher said.
Derek accounted for his other five points with a first quarter layup and a second quarter triple. The 15-points were the most Derek has scored since a 16-point outburst at San Antonio on January 14.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register takes a look at LA’s performance away from home this season and noted that, on this trip, the Lakers are chasing a previously unattainable milestone.
“Since the NBA stopped playing neutral-site games in 1974, no team has gone 7-0 or better on a trip. The Lakers, you might recall, went 6-0 earlier this season on the momentous trip when they lost Andrew Bynum to injury but still finished with consecutive victories in Boston and Cleveland.
If you go 6-0 and then 7-0 on different trips in a single season, well, you’re basically the greatest road team in the history of basketball. And the Lakers certainly could do it, with games left after Detroit against 30-41 New Jersey (Devin Harris is questionable), 42-30 Atlanta (just lost at home to the Tim Duncan-less Spurs), 31-40 Charlotte (Luke Walton is setting up a dinner date with the exiled Vladimir Radmanovic) and 31-41 Milwaukee (no Michael Redd, no Andrew Bogut).”
NEXT UP
No rest for the weary as the Lakers head east for tonight’s game against the Nets in New Jersey.
Derek scored five points in LA’s 120-93, blowout, victory over New Jersey at Staples Center on November 25.
Tip off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST and all the action can be seen live in LA on KCAL. Radio coverage is provided by KLAC AM 570.
From Jersey, the Lakers head south where they’ll take on the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off for that contest is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PST.
RELATED STORIES
Lakers at Pistons Play by Play (NBA.com, March 26, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090326/LALDET/playbyplay.html
Are the Lakers the greatest road team in history (The OC Register, March 27, 2009)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-road-season-2346429-team-cleveland
Victory in Detroit, and inside job (OC Register, March 27, 2009)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-bryant-quarter-2347332-points-third
Lakers end seven-year drought in Detroit (LA Times, March 27, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-pistons27-2009mar27,0,2798567.story?track=rss