Fisher King! Derek Steps up in the Fourth, Lakers Take 2-1 Lead

The greatest closer since Michael Jordan, an International Superstar, but who steps up?, the aging, slow, declining but never afraid of the grand stage, 4 time Champ Derek Fisher. The Lakers quiet leader stepped up huge as once too often the team looked to Kobe to bail them out only to see their best player go 1/6 in the fourth, and everyone else hesitant to shoot. The Lakers build a 17 point lead behind a 15-1 run in the first half and led by a dozen at halftime. Typical of Lakers play they allowed the Celtics to comeback despite bad games from both Pierce and Allen. The Leprechaun bench led to the comeback and the lead was cut to 1 before Fisher hit 2 clutch shots to keep Boston at bay. It was not a pretty game, both team shot under 45%, Lakers 13% from 3s, Boston 22% and 67% from the stripe. Both benches contributed well scoring 26 for Boston and 22 for LA and for the third straight game that team that won the battle of the boards emerged victorious.

Krypto-Nate - Power negated since no Superman wannabe with Lakers anymore, still instant offense continues his quick points in short spurts, 5 pts, 6 minutes, but has nothing else the last two games, no assists, steals, nothing.

‘Sheed - Rasheed had more assists than points, pretty much tells you how his shooting went, 1/5, 0/3 from downtown, after 2 productive games, regular season ‘Sheed made an appearance, if he’s still hurting, this every other day games, will not benefit the Leprechauns. Aahh so sad.

Tony Allen - Combined with Big Baby, Allen chipped in 7 valuable points while harassing Kobe Bryant whenever he was guarding him. For as tough as the Leprechauns supposed to be seems one of them is always about an injury, this case it was Allen who got knocked on the noggin.

Big Baby - 4/5 from the floor and the stripe for 12 points, nice contribution, except he is not known for defense against someone like Gasol who scored a big bucket against the shorter grounded Davis.

Perk - Kept his foul count low, pulled down 11 boards, 5 offensive, but got his shit rejected more than once, for as punishing as he’s reputed to be, he sure can’t finish like the big boys in traffic and after entering the final four as second in blocked shots, he has not gotten one since game 4 of the Orlando series. Guess Bynum does make a difference.

KG - Finally joined the Finals, KG turned back the clock with 25 pts on 11/16 shooting, he only got 6 rebounds though and back in the day KG was a walking double double, he needs more rebounds especially against the length of the Lakers.

Ray Allen - Got close to making history for the second consecutive game, but for different reasons entirely, after a awesome display of shooting, Ray Allen did a 180 and missed all 13 of his shots, including all 8 from threes, WTF in 23 seasons I have never seen anything like this, scorching one game, freezing the next. Bizarre.

Pierce - The Lie is in a dilema now, Boston wins 1 more and a trip to LA is guaranteed, where he vowed they would not be returning, or he can save face, keep playing awful and help his team bow down to the defending champs in 5 games, sure Boston loses, but hey he’ll keep his word. No more trip to LA, this series. Pierce was second on the team in points with 15 on 5/12 from the floor, he actually shot better from 3s.

Rajon Rondo - I felt limiting Rondo to 7 or less assists was key, well I was wrong, Rondo dished out 8 assists to go with 11 points, but cannot shoot from distance to save his life, 1 / 4 from the free throw, 5/10 overall, I cannot remember a worst shooting PG since I’ve been following the NBA.

LAKERS

The Machine - Sasha now has 5 times more points than last year. Still think he should be used more, if he's not contributing sit his ass down, but give him a chance Phil!

Farmar - Played 7 minutes, scored 2 points, not making a case to be the future quarterback for the reigning champs.

Walton - Luke made a rare appearance and actually had the largest +/- of the game, +13, who knew? It’s amazing how effective he is without any meaningful stats, I really think he should play more.

Brown - Played the second highest of the bench and scored second most points of the bench, unfortunately that number was only 4, still Brown played better than in game 2.

Odom - X-Factor LO, had by far his best game so far, 12 pts, 5 rbs , more importantly he was perfect from the field, 5/5 including 1/1 freebies, and 1/1 from downtown, as mentioned before when he plays well, Lakers are hard to beat.

Artest - Captain Ron followed up his bizarre game 2 of 10% shooting with 25% shooting on 1 / 4. Look like his offense make Phil so nervous he only put him in while Pierce played. As horrendous as he was he continues to make Pierce work for every point.

‘Drew - Only 9 pts, but got 10 rebounds and continues to show his mere presence even at less that 100% has really made a difference from 2 years ago. If ‘Drew was healthy this series would be over.

Gasol - Ordinary 13 and 10, 2 blks, hit a huge bucket over under size Big Baby, missed too many shots, and was not as aggressive, still anytime Gasol gets a double double it’s good news for the Lakers.

Fisher - The man of the hour, Fish was huge in the 4^th quarter when all Lakers playing seemed to not have the sac to shoot the ball, Fish scored 11 of his 16 pts in the 4^th in a variety of ways adding to his playoff legacy. He may not have get his number retired, but he will always be one of most liked players and one of the most important a la Coop and Scott of the 80s.

Mamba - Took too many shots and if it wasn’t for Fisher’s heroics, that would be the topic of this game, still Bryant was the game’s top scorer, pulled down 7 boards, dished 4 dimes and had 3 rejections

Player of the Game: Derek Fisher, Lakers lose the game and possibly the series without his heroics.

X-Factor: LO, only 5 rebounds, but contributed in double figures in points, not much is asked of his talents, just consistancy.

Should Have Been Benched: Farmar did not play much and when he did was a non-factor, won't be surprised if Lakers don't pick up his option, good player, but once too often seems hesistant.

Laker Hater: Big Baby, shot 80% from the stripe and from the floor, had not scored double figures since game 3 of the Least Finals.

Overtime: The Lakers still have not trailed in a series these playoffs. Only 2 players, Chick Reiser, waaay back in '48 and fellow Leprechaun great DJ in his Seattle days in 78 missed more shots than Allen in a Finals game without making a single one, 0/14. Phil has not lost a series when up 1-0, Doc has not lost a series when tied 1-1, one of these streaks will not survive this season.