Los Angeles Lakers 91 - Boston Celtics 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
www.nba.com
| |||||||||||||||||||||
When Rajon Rondo went from his three point line untouched for a layup at the other end, the once large lead was down to one with 9:45 to play.
Normally, this would be the time for Bryant to step up and will his
team to victory... except he was part of the problem. Stuck on the
perimeter, forcing jumpers.
Jim Rogash/Getty Images
Derek Fisher iced the game with a coast-to-coast layup, absorbing a brutal foul in the process. Fitting, since Fisher's play in the fourth was the reason there was a game to ice.
Enter Fisher. Throughout the regular season, Fisher had been trailed by so many shovel-toting fans and media tossing dirt on him, he might as well have been working the garden department at his local Home Depot. His response was always the same- absorbing the criticism, pointing to a team (generally) succeeding on the floor, and noting his moment would come. And this postseason, just as it was against the Magic last year, Fisher has again proven himself a wise, wise man.
Between the 8:56 and 4:33 marks of the fourth quarter, Fisher scored eight of his team's 10 points, including a pair of clutch jumpers coming off the 1-2 screen with Kobe setting the pick. He would cap the game with a tremendous full court drive off a Ray Allen missed triple (one of eight Game 2's hero would clank on the night), dropping the layup through as he was being crushed by three Celtics. His free throw iced it, and the Lakers, just as quickly as they gave away their home court advantage, grabbed it back.
Earlier in the day, much was made of an exchange between local newsman Jim Hill and Fisher, in which Fish delivered a death glare after Hill asked about Paul Pierce's ballyhooed (and totally overblown) in-game declaration that the series wouldn't be headed back to L.A. The intensity from Fisher showed Kobe isn't the only guy in town with an edge.
That was the intensity carrying him through the fourth.
Fisher's postgame interview on the floor with ESPN's Doris Burke showed too how willing he is to let the game face crack when it's over. "I'm sorry," he said, fighting back tears as the release of the in-game adrenaline hit him, "I'm getting emotional."
Who can blame him? The Lakers still had their defining win, now coming in a way perhaps more likely to galvanize the team than a walkover would have. Asked to what he ascribed his performance, Fisher's answer was outstandingly Fisheresque. "Faith. We work hard in this game, and sometimes things don't go your way, but you've just got to keep working hard and keep believing in yourself and in your team."
Even when people may not believe in you.
"I love this game, I love this team, I love this job, I love what I do," he continued. "Nothing means more to me than helping my team win."
Again.
When do we stop being surprised?
Much, much more postgame analysis and video to come...