If recent history is any indication, Derek Fisher and the Los Angeles Lakers are in for a treat.
The Lakers won their season opener against the Houston Rockets, 112-110 on Tuesday, which brought their streak of consecutive openers won to three.
And the last two times they won their season starter, Fish and his teammates were the last ones celebrating in June.
The Lakers’ starting point guard wasted no time getting back to his benevolent ways in LA’s win, finding Ron Artest and Pau Gasol for dimes in the game’s opening minutes.
No. 2 played 23 minutes on the night, scoring two points and added two rebounds. Fish knows he and his teammates have a long road ahead and Tuesday was only the beginning as he told FS West.
"It’s an extremely long season," said Derek Fisher. "Every game, in terms of how our opponent is going to approach the game, there are going to be a lot of similar nights. It won’t be about coming in and we’re the defending champs and a team is just going to roll over. We’re going to have to win a lot of games. That comes with the territory."
The Lakers capped Tuesday night with their first victory of the season, but the highlight of the evening came before the game, when Derek and his teammates collected their 2009-2010 NBA Championship rings. In a show of solidarity, everyone on the Lakers introduced a teammate.
Shannon Brown won the honor of telling the Staples Center crowd about Los Angeles’ consummate leader.
"This guy that I’m about to introduce is known as "El Presidente." The President. He’s a leader on and off the court. He’s made numerous amounts of huge plays, big threes, and he’s just the man to me. The guy I’m introducing right now is Derek Fisher."
Brown said the time given to him wasn’t nearly enough to pay tribute to his mentor, No. 2.
"They only gave us 30 seconds, but I had a lot more to say about him," Brown told ESPN.com. "I was actually driving
[to Staples Center] trying to get it all collected in my head. I was walking around the house saying it."After Fish collected his ring from NBA Commissioner David Stern, the fifth time he’s done that, Derek got to introduce the last Laker. But first, he paid tribute to the crowd.
"Staples Center, thank you so much for all the support you’ve given me and this team and these coaches in everything that we do. None of this is possible without your support, so thank you. Thank you so much.
"This next guy I’m about to bring out, I’m not sure if you guys know who he is. He doesn’t do very much to help us at all, He kind of just runs up and down the court, plays a little defense every now and then, shoots up a couple shots every now and then, but in some kind of way, he figures out how to will us to being the best year in and year out… The world’s best basketball player, Mr. Kobe Bryant."
ROLE REVERSAL
At the end of Tuesday’s game No. 2 found himself in an unusual position: taking a rest while the Lakers closed out the Rockets.Head Coach Phil Jackson went with guard Shannon Brown and Steve Blake in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and that’s something Fish said he has no problem with. In fact, he was the one leading the cheers when Blake and Brown buried crunch time threes.
"He’s going to go with the guys in the game that are playing well," D-Fish told the Los Angeles Times, agreeing that he thought the two guards were playing very well Tuesday night.
"They have rhythm out there. They’re playing good defense. They’re making good shots. Those are the guys that are going to stay in the game more times than not. I think as a player you appreciate that and it gives you the confidence that if you go in the game and you’re doing some good things, you’re going to get some minutes."
Fish knows, he will be on the court when it counts. Game 1 of an 82 game slog is much different than Game 7 of an NBA Finals. And you know D-Fish will be on the floor when the cards come down.
NEXT UP
The Lakers head down to Phoenix for their first road game of the season Friday night.No. 2 is intimately familiar with the Suns, turning in some of his best performances against Los Angeles’ biggest interdivision rival.
In the regular season last year, No. 2 dropped a 15-4-4 line in a six-point win. In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers bested the Suns in six games, with D-Fish dropping 22 points in Game Five.
Tip-off of the Pacific Division showdown is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST and the game can be seen locally KCAL and nationally on ESPN.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Reserves show experience, and mind-set will significantly bolster team (LA Times, October 27, 2010)
- Shannon Brown Elevates His Game (ESPN.com, October 27, 2010)
- Champs overcome adversity in season opener (FS West, October 27, 2010)