Derek Fisher leads the Lakers onto the floor tonight to take on the Detroit Pistons and as they look for their third win in four games, LA will also be seeking some consistency.
It’s consistency that the Lakers have lacked over recent weeks as they try to find their rhythm. But Fish is confident that LA has the wherewithal to move forward.
"It seems really big right now, but we have to just start plugging away at things one at a time," he told the Pasadena Star-News. "Make a few more free throws. Get a couple more rebounds. Get one or two more defensive stops. Make one or two more shots.
"Combine all those things together and then you’ll start to see things turn around."
The Lakers reeled off a two-game winning streak late last week, beating the New Orleans Hornets on the road and the Philadelphia 76ers at home.
On Friday against Philly, D-Fish notched his fourth straight game of three or more assists and the result was another Lakers victory, 102-98 over the Sixers. Fish’s four assists followed up games of three, three and eight dimes. Against Philadelphia, No. 2 spread out his assists, with one in the first, two in the second and one in the third.
In the first, Derek hit Kobe Bryant for a jumper. The following quarter, No. 2 found Kobe again and followed that with a dish to Ron Artest, both coming in the span of a minute. He added a dime to Pau Gasol to start the second half and the Lakers held off a late charge by the 76ers to record their second-straight victory.
Unfortunately LA wasn’t able to keep their streak going and fell at home to the Memphis Grizzlies, 104-85 on Sunday. No. 2 scored five points in the loss and added an assist and a rebound. It was LA’s fourth loss in six games, but D-Fish believes there is no need to panic.
"Despite mistakes or having stretches where you’re not playing well, as a group we remain committed to the principles of what our team has been able to achieve in the past," Derek said after Monday’s practice. "It’s doing the things that we do best in terms of, taking advantage of our size, really moving the basketball and putting everybody in position to be successful. We just haven’t done that very well lately."
STARTING A NEW STREAK
The Lakers have been one of the streakiest teams in the league this season.
After opening the season 8-0, they lost two straight, won five straight, lost four straight and won three straight. Over their last 11, they’ve won five straight, lost three straight and had won two straight before Sunday’s loss. But in those losses, and some wins, Derek has seen the Lakers make mistakes that are correctable on their own end.
"The encouraging part for us, which is why we aren’t going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, is that there are a lot of things that are happening that we can control," he said. "We recognize we’re playing other NBA teams, teams that are going to come out and play well against us. But there are a lot of things that are happening that we can control."
Derek also looked to past Lakers’ success as an example of how fighting through a grueling season prepares the team come postseason, as quoted by the OC Register:
"There are other years where we had to work hard to get 57 or 58 wins and we’re still able to put some things together in the postseason," Fisher said. "So if there were things happening that we felt we couldn’t be better, if we were playing as good as we could play and we were still getting beat up pretty good, then there is reason to worry.
"But there is still so much room for improvement and for doing things better. We don’t feel, that even with our recent struggles, this is what is going to define what we are."
To watch Fish talk more about the current stretch and ways to improve, courtesy of the LA Times, click here.
NEXT UP
Tonight, No. 2 and his teammates will have the opportunity to rebound against a team he’s already had success against this season.
In mid-November, No. 2 scored 10 points and added a pair of assists in a 103-90 victory over the Pistons in Detroit. This time, the Pistons come to the Staples Center and Derek assured after practice on Monday that the Lakers will give their best effort and keep fighting through this tough time.
"We’re going to stick with this thing," he said. "We’re not going to throw everything out and feel like we need to start over. We feel good about being able to get some things turned around."
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and all the action can be seen on FS West.
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