Fish, Lakers Pick Up First Win

Facing the most grueling part of their schedule just three games into the season, Derek Fisher and the Lakers came out of it stronger.

The Lakers finished their lone back-to-back-to-back of the season on Tuesday night with a blowout win over the Utah Jazz and Fish dish his part to make it happen. No. 2 scored nine points on 3-of-4 from the field, dished out four assists, grabbed two boards and recorded his fifth steal of the season.

Fish helped the Lakers to their first win of the year against Utah (Getty Images).

Mark Medina of the LA Times took note of Derek’s performance in his game recap:

"It’s hard to measure worth by one game. But in terms of getting their rhythm back, this game helped. Fisher (nine points on three-of-four shooting) appeared more polished and even made a coast-to-coast layup."

Derek started the game active, handing out assists to Josh McRoberts and Kobe Bryant as the Lakers overcame an early deficit. Then, moments after missing his only shot of the night, Derek knocked down a short jumper to bring LA within two. By the time Steve Blake checked in to replace him, D-Fish already had two assists, two points and a rebound.

Blake and Fish split the rest of the half as Los Angeles built its first lead of the game and went into halftime in front by 10. But despite their commanding lead LA stayed aggressive in the second half. Bryant hit a jumper just 17 seconds into the half to make it a 12-point game and Derek followed less than a minute later with a pullup of his own to push the score to 45-31 Lakers.
 
The back-to-back buckets were the beginning of a 15-4 run led by No. 2. He picked up his third assist, finding McRoberts inside for two to make it 51-33. Then Fish went about expanding the lead past 20 all by his lonesome. After drawing a foul he sank both free throws to push the lead back to 18. Then, following a Gasol steal, Derek took the pass from his teammate and went coast-to-coast for a layup. In the process he drew a foul and then made the free throw gave him nine points on the night and LA a 56-35 lead.

From there, the victory was elementary as the Lakers cruised to a 96-71 defeat of Utah. The win was much needed for LA, as they managed to finish the grueling three-game stretch with at least one win after losses to Chicago and Sacramento on the previous two nights.

"In some ways for us, we’re fortunate it’s the first three days as opposed to the last three days of the season," No. 2 said. Maybe that early season energy will get us through."

It was also Derek’s best game of the year to date. He tallied two points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks against Chicago on opening day and had six points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals in Sacramento.
 
Derek told NBA.com’s Scott-Howard Cooper that the most difficult part of a long offseason coupled with a short preseason isn’t conditioning, but rather finding everyone’s role in the new system the Lakers have in place under new coach Mike Brown.

"Overall, I’m fine… It was abnormal and not a typical offseason. But I was physically able to get a lot of things done." he said. "The more challenging part for me at this point is figuring out how to run this team and lead this team in the way that coach needs me to in order to be successful."

That has led to lengthy meetings with Brown and the coaching staff so Derek can understand what is expected of he and his teammates, while helping the coaching staff identify with the identity of their roster.

"

[I wanted to] communicate to our coaches my understanding of our team and personalities and how we can get the most out of each other and out of ourselves," Derek told NBA.com after one such meeting following Monday night’s loss to Sacramento.

NEXT UP
The Lakers get their first day off of the season today after playing for three consecutive nights. They play again on Thursday at Staples Center against the New York Knicks.

But according to Coach Mike Brown, D-Fish called the team together after their win over the Jazz and told them to stay mentally prepared even as they relaxed physically.

"Fish brought up a good point to our group," Brown said, "telling them that, ‘Hey, take tomorrow to relax, recuperate and get your bodies right but also make sure you’re starting to mentally get prepared for our next game,’ which is the Knicks."

Tip-off between the Lakers and the Knicks is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST and the game can be seen on TNT.

RELATED STORIES

• Gasol ends scoring slump (ESPN LA, December 28, 2011)
• Fisher facing physical, team challenges in return to floor (NBA.com, December 27, 2011)
• Things to take away from Lakers’ 96-71 victory over Utah Jazz (LA Times, December 27, 2011)
• Lakers vow to keep intensity during shortened season (LA Times, December 26, 2011)