Last night was Derek Fisher’s second straight game with eight points, and not coincidentally, the Lakers’ second straight win.
This time, Fish dropped eight points while adding two rebounds and pickpocketed Brandon Rush in a 118-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
It’s the fourth time in the past six games that Fish has scored eight or more. Los Angeles is 4-0 in those four games.
Against the Pacers, Fish earned his first points, getting sent to the line in tie game after being fouled on a three point attempt. He’d only taken two shots in the game, and hadn’t attempted one in a full quarter, but with three minutes left in the half, Fish calmly drained all three of his foul shots, putting the Lakers up three.
With the Lakers clinging to a three-point edge, Derek started off the second half scoring by draining a jumper while getting fouled by Indiana’s Earl Watson. He hit that free throw, completing his perfect night from the line.
No. 2’s last bucket of the night came with 3:40 to go in the third. It kicked off an 11-2 run that put the Lakers up 16. From there the, the Pacers would never seriously challenge, and the Lakers improved to one game over .500 on their current road trip.
DREW’S DOMINANT DEVELOPMENT
For an article by SI.com’s Ian Thomsen, D-Fish was asked about the development of Andrew Bynum, who last night had one of his best games of the season, unleashing on Indiana for 27 points and 12 rebounds.
"He’s still far from what he’s going to be, which is really scary for other people and exciting for us. Even though it’s like people want him to hurry up and be there, he’s intelligent enough to realize he has to grow and go along at the pace that he’s going."
D-Fish said that a couple years down the line, AB will be so unstoppable, that team’s are going to need to focus entirely on him, freeing up the rest of the Lakers.
"It’s exciting because there could be an interesting shift in two to three years to where he really becomes more and more like a ‘focus’ guy, a guy who every game we’ve got to make sure other teams respect this guy because he’s so dominant.’"
NEXT UP
The Lakers get a break today before playing the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Tip off is at 4:00 p.m. and is being broadcast on KCAL-TV.
RELATED ARTICLES
Kobe has 29, Bynum 27 as Lakers rout Pacers (ESPN.com, Jan. 27, 2010)
http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300127011
Lakers can win with defense, too (SI.com, Jan. 28, 2010)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/01/28/lakers/