While the Los Angeles Lakers have been strong on the road as of late, going 8-4 so far this season, they are about to head to an arena where they’ve had absolutely no luck.
Los Angeles hasn’t won in the Portland Trailblazers’ Rose Garden since February of 2005, a stretch of eight games and Derek Fisher has only been slightly more successful with his former teams than the Lakers have been.
No. 2’s Utah Jazz were swept by Portland in the 2006-2007 season. It was all the way back in April of 2006 when Derek, scoring 12 points playing with the Golden State Warriors, last won in the Rose Garden.
In his past eight games against Portland, a 4-4 split, Fish has averaged 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Derek said the keys to a victory tonight are very simple.
“Work harder, pick up the effort and keep the energy up.”
IT’S THE TEAM THAT COUNTS
No. 2 played only 20 minutes in the Lakers loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night and has only cracked ten points twice in the past seven games, but Fish made it clear this week the he’s neither struggling nor pressing. He knows his time and his shots will come.
“No,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “This is a team game. I’m not overly concerned about my individual game. With the type of team we have there’ll be different guys doing different things every night.”
WEEK IN REVIEW
No. 2 and the Lakers kicked off 2010 with a four game winning streak, only to see it snapped Wednesday night against the Clippers. Fish’s best game of the week came in Los Angeles’ romp over the Mavericks, where he was perfect from three point land and scored ten points.
NEXT UP
The Lakers head north to play the Portland Trailblazers. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. PST and can be seen on KCAL-TV.
RELATED ARTICLES
Lakers-Trailblazers preview (ESPN.com, Jan. 8, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=300108022
Lakers guard Derek Fisher says he’s not struggling (L.A. Times, Jan. 7, 2010)
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/01/derek-fisher-says-hes-not-struggling.html