As a longtime leader of one of the most successful teams in NBA history, Derek Fisher recognizes the importance of tempering enthusiasm.
So even after his Oklahoma City Thunder jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks in their first round playoff series with a 102-99 win on Monday night, Derek wasn’t getting excited.
"Until you figure out a way to win four games in a series, nobody cares whether you’re up 2-0, you’re down 0-2," Derek said on Monday night. "None of my rings say on the side how the series happened. We’ve just protected our home court. We’re not going to get excited about this. We’re not going to start thinking about how good we are and thinking ahead."
Fish came off the bench and scored 11 points in OKC’s Game 2 win (Getty Images).
D-Fish had every reason to be thrilled on Monday. He’d just put in perhaps his best performance since joining the Thunder on March 21st. Fish scored 11 points on 5-of-6 from the field in over 24 minutes of game action. But that’s not his mindset. Derek has learned through 211 career playoff games that reacting to the events of one game is fruitless. Instead, he is constantly looking ahead.
"Each game is different and each night is different, particularly in the playoffs," he told the Oklahoman. "Every night there’s going to be a different way to take advantage of opportunities to try and make contributions that will help the team. I tried to make plays where I saw fit. I got some shots to go down, but most importantly just trying to play hard and help my team."
Derek entered Monday’s game with 2:59 remaining in the first and the score tied at 21. Over the next three minutes, OKC outscored Dallas 11-3 — capped by a buzzer beating jumper from D-Fish — to take an eight point lead into the second quarter.
No. 37 continued to spark the Thunder in the second, sinking back-to-back jumpers to push the OKC lead to 10. Then, after Vince Carter narrowed the gap to nine, Fish tacked on a floater from 13-feet out to make it 38-27 Thunder. They held a double-digit lead until he left the game with 4:41 remaining in the first half and at halftime Oklahoma City maintained a seven-point edge.
"Derek did a great job of giving us that spark off the bench, knocking down those shots, playing tremendous defense and playing hard," Kevin Durant said. "That is what we expect from him every single night."
Teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook celebrate after a big bucket from Fish (Getty Images).
Derek got some more run late in the third quarter as the Thunder went small and D-Fish replaced Kendrick Perkins. OKC had lost the lead just moments earlier and needed to make a change. They fought with the Mavericks for the rest of the quarter, and took a two-point lead into the final frame.
The first six minutes of the fourth saw four lead changes and three ties. But OKC seized control late. After a Russell Westbrook triple put the Thunder up by one, Derek followed with a trey of his own to move them ahead 92-88. That lead held for three minutes before Vince Carter gave the Mavs the edge with a banker. But Durant followed with a pair of free throws to put Oklahoma City back in front and they carried that lead to victory. Fish said after the game that the Thunder expected Dallas to make a comeback and noted his respect for the Mavericks’ will:
"These guys we’re facing are the defending champions," he said. "They’re not going to allow anything to happen. We’re going to have to beat this team and they’ve showed in these first two games that although they’re seeded seventh, it has nothing to do with their approach. They expect to win. We’re going to have to be prepared to go fight even harder in order to win again in Dallas."
TITLE TALK
Oklahoma City’s success against the defending World Champions along with a stellar regular season has created some championship talk around the Thunder.
But Derek cautions that nothing comes easy in the postseason:
"To win a championship at this level, you have to fight through everything," he told the Oklahoman. "You have to win four series and in the course of winning 16 games, you’ve been through all the highs and lows. You’ve been ahead by 15, came back and maybe won a game. You’ve been down by 15, had to come back and win a game. More than likely, you’ve had to win in another team’s building. Every scenario you’ve faced when you’ve won a championship, so there isn’t anything that’s surprising or that catches you off-guard when you’ve won a title."
Derek speaks from experience when he talks about the road to a title (Getty Images)
That’s why Fish believes it takes more than just talent to win a NBA championship:
"This business is about mental toughness," he said. "You could measure with the width of a fingernail the differences in terms of physical play, the athleticism and strength and guys’ abilities to do great things out there on the floor. What separates good from great is mental."
To watch Derek talk more about the championship mindset, click here.
NEXT UP
Game 3 is Thursday night in Dallas and Derek says that he and his teammates recognize how little they’ve accomplished so far.
"If you advance, that’s the goal, you know. We haven’t advanced by winning two games," he said. "We’re going to respect our opponent and be ready to go Thursday night."
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 CDT and the game can be seen on TNT.
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