The Lakers will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead tonight when they host the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.
Derek scored eight points in the opening game of the series.
The Lake Show will be looking for similar contributions out of Fish as they got in last year’s Game 2 of the conference semifinals against.
D-Fish went off for 22 points in that contest on 7-10 shooting, including 4-5 from beyond the arc.
For Derek to do that, he’ll have to stay out of the foul trouble that sent him to the bench less than three minutes into game one on Sunday.
ON POINT
In his post game one chat yesterday, Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell fielded a question on the Lakers point guard situation, which he believes is much better than many give them credit for:
Alton: Rondo and Rose had their duel, but it seemed like both teams efficiency suffered for it. Both teams scored less than 1 point per possession, way under average for both of them. How do Shannon Brown, Farmar, and Fisher compare in regards to spreading out possessions and keeping efficiency up?
Trudell: I think L.A.’s point guards do a pretty good job of keeping efficiency up by merely running the triangle. That’s the beauty of the system, in that it doesn’t require the point guard to do too much in that regard other than really know the offense. That’s where Fisher can be so valuable down the stretch – he knows exactly where to be, which Brown and even Farmar to an extent are still learning.
START STRONG, FINISH STRONGER
All season long, the Lakers have looked for what coach Phil Jackson calls a killer instinct. The thing that keeps teams from even entertaining the thought of making a comeback against them.
It’s what made Derek scribble on a whiteboard after the Lakers nearly coughed up a victory earlier in the year, as noted by the LA Times:
This season, after the Lakers escaped with a two-point victory at Washington despite leading by 20 in the third quarter, Derek Fisher wrote “Boston Finals” on the locker-room whiteboard, followed by the number 24. It was a direct reference to their Game 4 Finals meltdown against Boston, where amazing happened only after a 24-point lead somehow turned into a 97-91 loss.
It’s also why, at the end of Sunday’s game, Jackson inserted Fish with just over five minutes to go because the lead was shrinking, as noted and quoted by the LA Daily News:
“I just didn’t like our stance,” Jackson said. “I didn’t like the way we carried ourselves, not at the end of the game but at the start of the second half. We got it back a little bit (in the fourth quarter). There is a tendency for this team to let up in the third quarter…I don’t like that. It’s about playing hard all the time, playing with a purpose.”
“We’re not going to win 15 games if we play like that,” he added, referring to the remaining number of victories the Lakers need to win the NBA championship. “We have to play better than that (tonight in Game 2). This is the time of the season when you look for improvement. During the regular season, you want to sustain effort, but now you want to improve.”
BEST CASE SCENARIO
Before each game, Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times runs down his best and worst case scenario for the upcoming game. Today he believes D-Fish and Kobe could get some shut-eye:
“A 16-point halftime lead turns into a 28-point victory. Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher are so bored in the fourth quarter that they pretend to sleep at the end of the bench. Phil Jackson isn’t amused and scribbles more ominous notes on the locker-room whiteboard.”
The Lakers and the Jazz tip-off tonight at 7:30 p.m. PST and all the action can be seen live on TNT.
CHARITABLE GUY
Derek’s name made it’s way into a Fox News gossip story this week, but it wasn’t for anything negative:
“L.A Lakers star Lamar Odom, Luke Walton and Derek Fisher raising money for Lamar’s “Cathy’s Kids” Foundation with a bash at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel on Friday night. R&B artist Faith Evans entertained the crowd with an intimate performance…”
It was also announced last week that Derek will be launching his first summer basketball camp in Los Angeles, which he announced with this message on Twitter:
“VERY exciting news! Launching my first bball camp for 8-15 year olds.”
More information, including a registration form and brochure about the camp, which runs July 20-24, can be accessed here.
RELATED STORIES
Lakers, Jazz undergo fine tuning (LA Daily News, April 21, 2009)
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_12187981?source=rss
Lakers try to get out of foul territory (LA Times, April 21, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-jazz21-2009apr21,0,5340661.story?track=rss
Why do foul shooter expect high-fives after a miss (LA Times, April 21, 2009)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-bresnahan-lakers21-2009apr21,0,5648749.story?track=rss
Lakers.com Live chat transcript (Lakers.com, April 20, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/090420chat.html?rss=true
Derek Fisher launches summer basketball camp (Ballerstatus.com, April 17, 2009)
http://www.ballerstatus.com/2009/04/17/lakers-derek-fisher-launches-summer-basketball-camp-in-los-angeles/