A Dish Best Served Cold

The assist barrage continued for Derek Fisher in the 2010 NBA Playoffs as the veteran guard passed the Lakers to another victory.

On Tuesday night, Los Angeles took command of the Western Conference semifinals with a 111-103 victory over the Utah Jazz , giving LA a 2-0 series lead.

While No. 2 scored five points, it was his dishing that did the deed.

Fish notched five assists, the third time in eight playoff games so far that he’s had over five dimes. No. 2 is an equal opportunity passer and he spread his dishes out evenly throughout the game.

In the first, D-Fish found Ron Artest for a basket, then in the second, it was a pass to Pau Gasol for an easy layup. To start the second half, No. 2 had a nice back-to-back sequence, hitting Kobe Bryant and Gasol again on consecutive Laker possessions.

No. 2 finished his evening by passing to Bryant for a slam that put the Lakers up 11 with two minutes to play. No. 2 also had only one turnover on the evening, giving him the best assist to turnover ratio on the Lakers for the evening.

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE…
Derek has done a lot of speaking over his 14-year career, the majority of which comes in his team’s huddle.

But teammate Jordan Farmar was on the receiving end of a special address by Derek, years before Farmar donned the purple and gold.

Farmar recently found a photo from his sixth grade class of he and Derek after a speaking engagement by D-Fish at his school. Fish acknowledged that he can’t dispute "photographic evidence" and laughed off the odd coincidence:

"As he so eloquently pointed out, I was on the team at that time." Fish laughed when prompted by the media for comment. "I work with a guy that was in the sixth grade when I first came into this business. It’s pretty humbling, but I guess very positive as well."

Fish said he’s used to getting teased by his teammates about his veteran status. All the Lakers get picked on for something or other:

"We have a great group that way," Derek said. "We get on each other. We hold each other accountable as far as playing. But we also have a lot of fun on the personal side as well. Jordan is definitely one up, in a big way, on that one."

MILK AND CEREAL
As No. 2 recently spilt in an exclusive interview, one thing that takes him back to his youth is a good bowl of cereal.

Derek admitted that though he works hard to remain in peak physical condition, one of his vices is a sugary bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

"You just feel like a kid again for five or six minutes, and sometimes that does the trick."

Trey Kerby of Yahoo! Sports NBA Blog, Ball Don’t Lie was surprised with Derek’s revelation and had an idea for the Lakers:

"I’d have guessed Derek Fisher was more of a Grape Nuts kind of guy, but I’m with him on the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which is definitely the third-best cereal of all-time. Good choice, Beardy.

But you kind of have to wonder if the Lakers might want to invest in a team chef. Between Fisher’s cereal fix and Lamar Odom’s sweet tooth, they’re closer to a middle-school sleepover than an NBA team. I’m imagining a lot of sleepless nights staying up late to watch "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and Ron Artest making prank calls. That’ll catch up to you eventually.

Then again, if you can make it in the NBA with cereal and candy as your favorite foods, I’d like to enter the draft."

NEXT UP
Fish can endulge in some Cinnamon Toast Crunch this week as the Lakers get the rest of the week to rest and prepare. Then it’s off to Utah for Game 3 on Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. PST and the game can be seen on ABC.

RELATED STORIES
LA not perfect but good enough (Press Enterprise, May 5, 2010)
http://www.pe.com/sports/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_W_patton_05.4fc4945.html
Derek Fisher’s secret breakfast cereal vice exposed (Land O’Lakers, May 5, 2010)
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeleslakers/post/_/id/6483/derek-fishers-secret-breakfast-cereal-vice-exposed
Derek Fisher spoke at Jordan Farmar’s 6th grade class (LA Times Lakers Blog, March 5, 2010)
http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/05/derek-fisher-spoke-at-jordan-farmars-6th-grade-class.html
Derek Fisher’s favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, He’s 35 (Ball Don’t Lie, March 5, 2010)
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Derek-Fisher-s-favorite-food-is-Cinnamon-Toast-C?urn=nba,238841