The Fish That Saved L.A.

In a game where the refs decided to make their presence felt and KG rose from the crypt, it was one of those games where a role player stepped up when they needed him the most and that guy was Derek Fisher whose 13 points in the fourth quarter propelled the Lakers to a 91-84 and took a commanding 2-1 lead. 

Fisher was guy that I rode off heading into the playoffs even because I felt he couldn't keep up defensively with all of the great point guards he faced (Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo) and would break down by this time.  But Fisher proved us all wrong with his gritty performance in Game 3 and his continued clutch play throughout the entire playoff season.

As someone who is watching with no favoritism to either team, I felt every time Fisher had the ball in the fourth quarter he was going to make the shot.  He outplayed Rondo down the stretch, which is something most point guards cannot say especially in the 2010 playoffs. The other big thing Fisher did is save Kobe Bryant.

He bailed out Kobe Bryant like it was that night in Colorado and then some. Bryant had an awful performance in the fourth quarter going something like 1-7 but everybody talked about how he dropped 29 points without any mention of his woeful performance. If the LeBron Fan Club were smart this would be the perfect game for their argument because the playoff experience that Kobe has around him allowed him to have a poor showing in the final minutes of the game.

If anyone deserves any blame from Boston is anyone near Derek Fisher when he took the ball right to the lane under a minute getting an and-one pretty much putting the icing on the cake. I can still remember my dad yelling at kids to pick up the guy with the ball. Anyone who played organized basketball would know that Fisher needed to be picked up right outside of the three-point line. Who knows what happens if Fisher never gets to the lane with it only being a four point game.

Derek Fisher is like having someone's dad at a house party. Everybody loves him because he is quite older than the rest of people there, usually comes up with big moments whether buying a sweet bottle of alcohol or hitting that big shot in beer pong, and pays for a ton of drinks at the bar.

-Charlie.