Coming into an elimination game at home, Derek Fisher knew exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers needed to do to keep their season alive.
Los Angeles came out with passion and energy that befitted the situation, and the results were immediate and fruitful.
 Fish goes airborne during the Lakers’ Game 6 victory (Getty Images). |
The Lakers jumped out to a 10-point lead after one quarter, led by 20 at halftime and cruised past the Boston Celtics 89-67 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night at the Staples Center. The victory tied the best-of-seven series at 3-3 forcing Game 7 on Thursday night.
The Lakers exhibited hustle and desire from the opening tip to the final buzzer but there was no one who displayed it more vividly than LA ‘s captain, setting the tone with an all-out hustle play in the game’s opening minutes.
The Lakers were ahead by one point at the time, looking to defend that lead and Derek stood, hands out, eyeing his counterpart, Rajon Rondo as the Celtics ran an offensive play in the halfcourt.
But while D-Fish was glued to Rondo, he also had his mind on something else. So, when Kendrick Perkins lofted a lazy chest pass toward Rondo, Fish pounced.
He swatted the ball up the court, then outraced the lightning quick Rondo to corral it. Dribbling up court, No. 2 used his body to box out Rondo, and took the ball to the hole for a smooth reverse lay in.
It was a thing of beauty, as seen here, but after the game, No. 2 said his effort was only a small part of the entire team’s concerted desire to outwork the Boston Celtics.
"We just seemed to really be quick to the ball in the first half in particular, and they were pretty much just getting one shot, and that was it. We were then able to get out into the open floor
[and] try to score on the fast break – I think we scored some good points early before their defense was able to get set."Fish’s effort was mirrored in that of his teammates and there was no denying the Lakers. By the time the game was midway through the second, the Lakers had opened a 20-point lead.
With victory in hand early, Phil Jackson took the opportunity to rest Derek, who’d already been a four-time victim of the whistle, for a Game 7 that was all but assured.
NO LUCK FOR NO. 2
The Lakers have now forced a winner take all Game 7 on their home turf, and No. 2 said it’ll be decided by skill and desire, no luck about it."I’ve never seen a leprechaun growing up in Little Rock or any of the years I’ve been here in L.A. I’ve only seen them on t-shirts and commercials. I don’t want to see one Thursday, that’s for sure."
What Fish surely can expect, is a bunch of grizzled guys in green, not fazed by the magnitude of the evening.
"They have a locker room full of guys as that have had phenomenal NBA careers, and I think they’ll recognize as well that this is a special moment that you just don’t get to be a part of – I don’t want to say every season – but sometimes never in your career."
Derek said the victory will go to the team that plays to their best of their ability as a whole.
"I think it’ll be a much more tightly contested game [with a] closer margin and [will] still be about the team that plays the best as a team … It won’t be about individual performances, it’ll be about which team is best."
Though this is his first Finals Game 7, Derek, a connoisseur of basketball history, can appreciaite what awaits on Thursday. He thinks it’s something everyone can enjoy, from the players to the fans.
"I know because it’s Lakers-Celtics we appreciate the way, in particular, our fan base [appreciates the game]. A large number of them have been fans their entire lives."
Derek believes NBA lovers are in for a treat and while Lakers-Celtics is always a physical Final, there’s something different about a Game 7, that takes the intensity to a whole new level.
"This is a different type of series whenever the Lakers and Celtics play, whether it’s a Game 1 or a Game 7 there’s just something that Lakers fans and Celtics fans just don’t like about this matchup. Both teams have obviously had some moments where we don’t like each other very much, and they’ll be a lot more on Thursday."
NEXT UP
104 games have come and gone in the 2009-2010 season for Derek Fisher and the Los Angeles Lakers and it all comes down to one.Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals tips off at 6 p.m. PST on Thursday night from the Staples Center and all the action can be seen on ABC.
RELATED ARTICLES
Derek Fisher/Lamar Odom/Andrew Bynum post-Game 6 quotes (OC Register, June 15, 2010)
http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/15/derek-fisherlamar-odomandrew-bynum-post-game-6-quotes/38497/