Derek Fisher and the Los Angeles Lakers got a win when they absolutely needed it, defeating the Mavericks in Dallas, 100-95, to halt their longest road losing skid of the season.
Derek scored three points in the victory while playing 24 minutes. He also chipped in two rebounds and two assists. Both of Fish’s assists went to the big man Andrew Bynum.
The teams played a tight game throughout and neither team outscored the other by more than three in an quarter, setting up a remarkable finish.
Kobe Bryant, who missed most of the first half with back spasms, played the entire second half, and scored ten points, including the deciding bucket with under a half-a-minute to play.
Fish, who has seen enough of Bryant’s exploits to know not be unamazed with anything that Kobe does, was still wowed that No. 24 could loosen up enough to play, let alone be a major factor.
"I thought he was a little too stiff to try to get it going again," D-Fish told Jeff Eisenberg of the Press-Enterprise. "Just his presence does a lot for us."
FISH AND CLIPS
The Lakers go back to Los Angeles, and this time get their own fans behind them at the Staples Center, when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers. The last time these two teams met, the Lakers were the road team, and fell, 102-91. Derek scored three points and pulled in two rebounds.
They may have lost the last meeting, but Los Angeles did beat the Clippers to open the season. In that victory, No. 2 went for five points and three assists.
Baron Davis will duel D-Fish at the Staples Center on Friday night. Lakers-Clippers tips off at 7:30 and can be caught on FOX West.
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