On a night when the Lakers needed a win, playing the Golden State Warriors and their frenetic style of basketball, Los Angeles needed to get out to a hot start.
So that’s exactly what Derek Fisher helped them do.
D-Fish hit his first shot of the game, a three-pointer to put the Lakers up five just two minutes into the game.
Then, when the Warriors went on a mini-run of their own, it was Fish assisting Pau Gasol to help Los Angeles keep pace.
After a few minutes on the bench, Fish came back and, midway through the second quarter, found Kobe Bryant and Gasol again to cut into a thirteen point lead Golden State had jumped to.
In the third, when the Lakers had finally crawled back to tie the game, Derek hit his second trey of the night to put L.A. up three points for the first time since he’d hit from deep in the first.
It was a lead Golden State would tie but never pass, and the Lakers held on for a hectic 124-118 win.
For the game D-Fish finished with six points on 2-3 shooting from three point land, while finishing third on the team with four assists. He also pulled in three rebounds in 23 minutes.
A SPEED BUMP IN THE DESERT
Before Tuesday night’s win over the Warriors, the holiday season hadn’t been kind to Derek and the Lakers.
After a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day, the Lakers needed two overtimes to overcome the Sacramento Kings the next night.
Two days later, they weren’t so fortunate.
Derek picked off two steals, the eighth time this season he’s had at least a pair of thefts and added two points and a rebound, but the Lakers struggled to find enough on the offensive end to keep up with the high-octane Suns, falling 118-103 on Monday night in Phoenix.
The start for Derek marked his 30th straight to begin the season. Derek has now played in an astounding 415 consecutive regular season games. D-Fish’s two steals also helped to up his steals per game average to 1.2, the same average he had last season.
Adjusted for a full game, D-Fish is averaging 2.1 steals per 48 minutes. In that category, which gives a better indication of steal rate, D-Fish sits just outside the Top 25 in 26th.
NEXT UP
Fish and the Lakers ring in the New Year on Friday by taking on the Sacramento Kings at the Staples Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PST and the game can be seen on FS West.
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