Fish Rap
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When the Lakers’ offense stalled down the stretch, an unlikely figure stepped forward and punched the gas pedal.
The much-maligned Derek Fisher added another chapter to his storybook Laker career, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the 4th quarter to lift the Lakers to a 91-84 victory over the Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight in Boston.
Fisher’s 3-point play with 48.3 seconds left was the difference as the Lakers held off a late Boston rally to prevail. For Fisher, it was sweet redemption from Game 2 on Sunday, when Ray Allen torched him and the Lakers’ defense for an NBA Finals’ record 8 3-pointers in a Celtics’ victory.
“We work hard in this game,” said a teary-eyed Fisher after the win. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, but you just have to keep working at it.”
Not much worked for Allen or Inglewood native Paulie Pierce, who boldly proclaimed (he would be right if the Lakers win the next 2) after Sunday’s win that the series wouldn’t return to L.A. Allen missed all 13 of his field-goal attempts, including a humbling 0 for 8 from 3-point land. He managed just 2 points in 42 minutes.
Pierce finished with 15 points, but 9 of those came on 3-pointers. Foul trouble limited him to 34 minutes and his inconsistency on offense seriously hurt the Celtics.
The Celtics jumped on the Lakers early, taking a 12-5 lead as Kevin Garnett, who finished with 25 points, provided much of the spark. But after a time out, the Lakers went on a 21 to 5 run to take a 26-17 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. They never looked back.
They built a 17-point lead in the 2nd quarter, but Boston cut it to 12 (52-40) at the half.
In the 4th, Boston closed the gap to 1 on a couple of occasions, but it never was able to grab the lead.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points, but missed 19 of his 29 shots.
The Lakers also got another strong outing from their big men, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Though they weren’t as dominant as they were in Game 2, they provided key contributions during crucial runs. Gasol finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Bynum also pulled down 10 boards (5 on offense) and scored 9 points.
There also was a Lamar Odom sighting in Boston. The Lakers forward, who had been a non-factor in the first 2 games of the series, played well and finished with 12 points, hitting all 5 of his shots. He also had 5 rebounds.
Game 4 is Thursday in Boston. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on ABC.
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