When Derek Fisher takes the court with the Lakers, he knows a high-scoring teammate will be next to him in the backcourt.
Typically it’s Kobe Bryant, but Tuesday night, Shannon Brown was the latest shooting guard to explode while paired with No. 2. With the buckets being taken care of, Fish can handle the rest, doing whatever it takes to guide the Lakers to victory.
In a 104-94 win over Golden State, it was defense. With plenty of offense coming from the two-spot in Brown’s 27 points, Fish focused on shutting down the Warriors best scoring option, Stephen Curry.
In the three games prior to the All-Star Break, Curry went for an average of 28 points, on nearly 50 percent shooting in all three games.
But with No. 2 locking in on him, Curry managed just 11 points on an awful 5-21 night
"Steph had a nightmare game, and he hasn’t had one like that for a while," Warriors coach Don Nelson told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I think (Derek) Fisher got in his head a little bit, and he can do that to young players."
But it didn’t end there for Derek. He played a fantastic first quarter. In a seven-minute span, No. 2 scored eight points, threw out assists to Shannon Brown and Pau Gasol, and grabbed two rebounds as the Lakers charged out to a 12-point lead.
Then, in the third, Fish hit a three that put the Lakers up eight. Though Golden State closed the gap in the fourth, Fish and the Lake Show held them off, winning by ten.
No. 2 finished with 11 points, and all five Lakers starters scored in double-figures.
STANDING PAT
There’s been quite a deal of rumors floating about the NBA with the trade deadline looming, and while it seems like the Lakers will stand pat, maybe even more so after Shannon Brown’s fantastic night, the constant chatter always revolves around finding a backup for Derek Fisher.
There are some issues to any trade, says Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. Primarily, it’s finding minutes for whoever may come to Hollywood.
"Fisher is firmly entrenched in his starting role and after everything he’s been through with Jackson and his recent heroics in the 2009 Finals as a concrete evidence of what’s left in the 13-year veteran’s tank, it’s tough to envision Jackson parsing down his minutes much more than he already has."
McMenamin doesn’t believe a deal will happen. And No. 2, himself, is more than happy with the roster, as he told the Los Angeles Times:
"We’ve always believed since the day that training camp opened that we had 13 guys that all can play and at times deserve to play."
Fish was especially ecstatic with how the team played in the days leading up to the All-Star break with Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant hurt. Bynum came back in the win over Golden State while Kobe continued to rest his battered ankle. When both return, Fish says, the rest of the team will still have to push as hard as it did with them out.
"The key will be for us to try to continue to do what we were doing while Kobe was out and Andrew was out. The rest of us, three or four guys out there on the floor still have to move, keep the ball moving and most importantly, it’s about that defensive intensity that really seemed to be better in those three games."
You can hear everything Fish had to say after the Lakers first practice back from the break here.
NEXT UP
The Lakershave a day of practice leading into their primetime matchup against the Boston Celtics Thursday night on TNT. The Lakers escaped Boston last month with a one-point win. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PST.
RELATED ARTICLES
Curry has nightmare, even with solid stats (SF Chronicle, Feb. 17, 2010)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/16/SPT51C2O7E.DTL
Not adding up (ESPNLosAngeles.com, Feb. 16, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=4917784
Health, homecourt advantage and team chemistry among the Lakers goals after All-Star break (L.A. Times, Feb. 15, 2010)
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/02/health-homecourt-advantage-and-team-chemistry-among-the-lakers-goals-after-allstar-break.html