As the Lakers’ point guard, Derek Fisher knows it will often be his job to set up his teammates rather than score the ball himself.
With that in mind, Derek the Distributor took center stage on Tuesday night, leading all players in assists and helping LA to a 95-92 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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The victory gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in their first round playoff series.
While Fish scored five points and grabbed four rebounds, his best work came distributing the rock, as he passed out six helpers on the night.
His first assist came five minutes into the game, as No. 2 found fellow guard Kobe Bryant for a close jumper. Derek once again hit Kobe for a short shot early in the second and with two to go in the quarter, D-Fish passed to Pau Gasol for an easy bucket. Despite Derek’s timely dimes, the Lakers went into the half down two.
To start the third, Derek recorded two quick assists on back-to-back plays, dishing to Bryant again for a three, then hitting Ron Artest for a deuce. With Los Angeles down one in the fourth, No. 2 hit Pau Gasol, for his sixth and final assist of the evening, a pass that put the Lakers up two with two minutes to play.
The game played tight down the stretch, but Los Angeles escaped with a 95-92 win after the Thunder’s Jeff Green missed a desperation three.
No. 2 also hit a three on the evening, his fourth of the playoffs.
CONTINUING ON
On nights like these, it’s easy to forget that Derek Fisher has been in the league 13 years already. It’s also to easy to see why he wants to keep on playing basketball beyond those 13 seasons.
"This is the last year on my contract. I know I want to play basketball after this," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I will play basketball as long as somebody is willing to offer me a job."
Despite being a frequent vistor to the postseason himself, Fish knows that getting to play for a title is never a guarantee.
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[Playing] doesn’t mean that it’s going to be on a team that can win a championship. So, from that perspective now is the only thing that matters. You can’t think about next year. You can’t think about the past. It’s just about right now."NEXT UP
The Lakers leave the friendly confines of Staples Center for Game 3 of the series on Thursday night, in Oklahoma City. The showdown will be shown on TNT and tips off at 6:30 p.m. PST.
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Lakers’ Derek Fisher says this won’t be his last season (Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2010)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0420-lakers-web-20100420,0,7406509.story?page=2