With Kobe Bryant ailing, the Los Angeles Lakers needed a guard to step up against the Portland Trailblazers.
Derek Fisher heeded the call with one of his best performances of the year, and helping the Lakers snap a nearly five-year losing streak in Portland’s Rose Garden.
 Derek led the Lakers to their first win in a long while at Portland (Getty Images). |
Fish scored 14 points, including draining both of his triple attempts, but more importantly, No. 2 handled the Lakers offense, distributing the rock for a team-high six assists in the 99-82 victory over the TrailBlazers.
Derek’s six dimes found four different Lakers, as each of the four players he found, Pau Gasol, Shannon Brown, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom scored in double figures.
His play on the night was vintage Fish, and a style that Kevin Ding, of the Orange County Register, loved. The numbers were great, but as it usually is with Derek, it was more about the intangibles:
"Fisher was the undeniable leader on the court all night long. Pau Gasol might be the second All-Star, but he was the one needing counsel from Fisher during second-half warmups – with words that alternately educated and encouraged so many teammates."
Fish saw it as only natural, that with Kobe Bryant out, he should step up:
"He and I are co-captains, and we work together to manage this team," D-Fish told Ding. "So when he’s out, I know guys are going to look to me more than usual, so I just try to be even more vocal, more aggressive, stronger out there on the floor."
Fish said he needed to exude confidence, so no one else got worried about Bryant’s absence:
"They need to see me not worried about the fact that Kobe’s not playing – and I don’t think they’ll worry much about it either."
No. 2 played his role as leader to a tee, helping the Lakers get a win they hadn’t been able to achieve with Bryant in a long time.
NEXT UP
The Lakers play the San Antonio Spurs tonight at the Staples Center. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. PST and is being showcased on TNT.
RELATED ARTICLES
Odom replaces ailing Kobe as Lakers get rare win in Portland (ESPN.com, Feb. 6, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap/_/id/300206022/la-lakers-lakers-vs-portland-trail-blazersv
Why Fisher is still good for the Lakers (OC Register, Feb. 7, 2010)
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/fisher-233013-good-lakers.html