On a night where scoring was at a minimum, D-Fish came up large.
No. 2 scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting and had five steals as the Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets, 93-81, on Friday night to climb back to within a game of Cleveland for the league’s best record.
Derek’s performance was highlighted by LA Times Lakers Times blogger Andrew Kamenetzky in a post game post:
“Fifteen points on 6-11 shooting helped give the Lakers a boost on a night where Kobe wasn’t a points machine and Pau Gasol struggled to find a consistent rhythm, particularly in the first half. Fish was solid with the mid-range game, finding space a couple times thanks to the aforementioned Kobe picks. Defensively, Fish had
[five] steals and did a great job limiting water bug Rockets PG Aaron Brooks. The former Oregon Duck can really fill it up, but tonight was held without a field goal, and finished with only three points.”HUSTLE AND TUSSLE
No. 2’s hustle was on display in the early going.After tightly guarding Brooks through Houston’s first possession, Fish allowed Brooks to cut underneath and dribble under the basket and through. When Brooks arrived at the other side he didn’t see Derek and lobbed a pass in the direction of Shane Battier on the perimeter.
No. 2 peeled off of Luis Scola, cut the pass off in the middle and pushed it forward. As he hustled to keep up with the ball, Fish got ahead of Battier on the break. At the other end, D-Fish paused on Battier entering the paint and popped up a layup, off the glass and in.
The bucket gave LA a 4-0 lead.
After missing a three, Derek didn’t take long to put up another shot and was fouled on a fade-away jumper. He sank one of his two free throws to make it 7-2.
The Rockets used some outside game to cut back into the Lakers, but with the score 12-9, Fish drained a long two in Brooks’ face for his fourth and fifth points of the game. After the play, Derek talked a little smack to Brooks for underestimating him. Fish then continued to talk after Brooks apparently threw an elbow and both players were assessed technical fouls on the play.
Moments later, No. 2 was charged with a personal foul while guarding Brooks and, with much displeasure at the call of the officials, headed to the bench as Jordan Farmar checked in at the 5:28 mark of the first.
THIRD IS THE CHARM
After about 11 minutes off, D-Fish returned to the floor in the second quarter, with the score tied at 29.Derek went scoreless for the remainder of the half, but he provided assists and rebounds as the LA and Houston jockeyed for the lead. By the time the teams hit the locker room, the game was once again tied, at 44.
Houston briefly pulled ahead to begin the third quarter on two free throws that gave them a 46-44 lead. But D-Fish made short work of the edge with a wide open, pull-up jumper, off a Kobe Bryant screen, which knotted the score at 46.
The teams exchanged buckets and the Rockets took a 50-49 lead with a Yao Ming fade away. Trailing again, it was No. 2 that got the call to be the savior and D-Fish answered without a problem, knocking down a fade away of his own to give the Lakers a 51-50 lead.
“Derek Fisher is a guy you can not leave open,” ESPN’s Mark Jackson said after Fish hit the jumper. “He lives for those open shots.”
On the other end, Derek picked off an errant Ron Artest pass to squelch Houston’s attempt to retake the lead.
The Lakers began to pull away as the quarter wore on and with 3:31 to go in the third, D-Fish drained his first and only triple of the day to give LA a 10-point lead.
Derek’s strong play, knocking down shots, grabbing big rebounds whilst tiptoeing the baseline and stepping in front of passes to force crucial turnovers earned him a breather at the end of the third. As he exited, the Staples Center faithful showed their appreciation for their point man and gave D-Fish a loud ovation for his efforts.
After No. 2 departed with 2:46 to go in the quarter, the Rockets closed the period with a 7-2 run to cut the lead back to five.
CLOSING OUT 60
LA’s bench mob permitted the Rockets to pull back within one, but never relinquished the lead. When Fish re-entered, the Lakers held a six-point lead and it didn’t take No. 2 long to help put the game away.Kobe and Scola traded jumpers and Fish answered Scola’s bucket with another pull up J to push the lead back to eight.
“The best thing about Derek Fisher is he’s not out there looking to get the ball in the hands of Kobe Bryant,” Jackson said after the shot. “He’s a guy not afraid of the moment.”
Derek added his 15th point from the charity stripe after a Ron Artest technical foul. The easy bucket made it an 11-point game and LA closed out a 12-point win.
The victory was the 60th of the season for the Lakers, a feat they hadn’t achieved since Fish’s fourth season in the league. The win combined with a Cavaliers loss at Orlando puts LA one game behind Cleveland for home court.
CLAIMING THE HOME COURT
Though the Lakers still trail the Cavs by one game in the race for the best record in the league and the home court perks the distinction includes, they gained bragging rights over their own home court on Sunday night.After running out to a huge lead, the Lakers escaped a late rally by the LA Clippers and defeated their Staples Center roommates, 88-85, on the Staples floor last night.
Derek was one of 11 Lakers to score in the victory, netting just three points in 22 minutes on the floor. D-Fish appeared ticketed for even more rest before LA’s other team clipped a 19-point lead to 10 late.
That brought No. 2 back onto the floor with 4:16 left. The Clippers kept their roll going and scored the next seven points to cut the lead to three, the slimmest margin since the 7:53 mark of the first quarter.
But the Lakers starters held off the furious rally and Fish iced the victory by sinking one of two free throws with five seconds to go.
LEFT FOOT OK AFTER MISSTEP
Derek’s return to the game showed his guts after he suffered a first quarter foot injury.Phil Jackson had hoped the big lead would let Fish rest the sore foot for the rest of the game, after he was removed late in the third, but when the bench coughed up the sizeable lead, D-Fish’s veteran presence was needed back on the court.
NEXT UP
The Lakers will take Monday to get ready for the their second to last road game of the season, Tuesday night in Northern California against the Sacramento Kings.After playing three times during a 19-day span early in the season, the Kings and Lakers haven’t seen each other since a December 12 LA victory at Staples Center. Derek scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting in the win.
The Lakers lost in their only trip to Sacramento this season. D-Fish scored nine points and dished three assists in the 113-101 loss.
LA has only lost more than once to the same team twice this year. They lost two games each against the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST on Tuesday night and all the action can be seen live in LA in KCAL. Radio coverage is provided by KLAC AM 570.
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