The Oklahoma City Thunder have put the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in a desperate spot, one Derek Fisher is all too familiar with.
Fish and the Thunder are one win away from the second round (Getty Images).
With a destructive 95-79 win on Thursday night, D-Fish and the Thunder are one game away from sweeping the defending champion Mavericks out of the postseason without a win. Sweeping the Mavs would be an interesting turnabout for Fish, who was a member of the defending champion Lakers last season when it was Dallas who swept the champs out on their way to a title. It’s an unenviable feeling to say the least, but one that Derek says he has learned from.
"You just never forget not finding a way to win a game in a playoff series," he said after the Thunder’s Game 3 victory. "But you learn from it, you grow from it. I feel like it’s made me better in terms of appreciating when you’re in an opportunity in the postseason later in your career to really just give everything you have."
Derek gave everything he had in Game 3, scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 from the field. He also added a rebound and a steal, while closing out the game as the team’s floor general. But Thunder guard James Harden, who has been a part of the reserve unit with Fish since he arrived in March, noted that what Derek brings on a daily basis goes beyond the statistics.
"Everything from big shots, leadership, he does it all. He can still play at his age but he’s done a great job of when we get up by a certain amount of points
[helping us in] keeping our composure, just doing a great job in our huddles of talking to us," Harden told Fox Sports. "He’s definitely meant a lot to us."No. 37 played that role to perfection on Thursday as the Thunder turned a nine-point halftime lead into a route in the third quarter. OKC outscored the Mavs 25-16 in the third to take an 18-point lead into the final frame. After playing just four minutes in the third, Fish played the entire fourth quarter, helping OKC to hold the edge with his leadership, while allowing the team’s starters to rest for most of the final frame. He also scored five of his 10 points in the fourth.
"He’s got a ton more experience than anybody else in playoff games," reserve big man Nick Collison said. "It definitely helps to have him. He’s feeling more comfortable and he’s been vocal. It brings about the right mindset you have to have. And then on the court, he’s been great too. He’s a stabilizer for us. He gets us into offense and defensively, fights through screens and knows the game plan, so it’s been great for us."
NEXT UP
Fish and the Thunder have one more win to go to finish off the Mavericks and with the star power of their front line and Derek’s leadership and savvy helping to push the second unit, OKC is in a great position to move onto the next round.In fact, if history is any indication, they are guaranteed to advance. In NBA playoff history, all 99 of the teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series have won the series. But Derek says OKC can’t think about things like that and try to let history finish the Mavericks, rather they must focus on finishing the series themselves.
"Don’t pay attention to that stat," he said. "Just go out and play the game as it is. We don’t need to come out on the floor Saturday night with any extra baggage or carrying any extra burden or pressure… Stay in the moment and hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to get the win."
They’ll get their first shot at it on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center when OKC will be gunning for a series sweep. But Derek is well aware that the Mavericks will not be swept without a fight.
"We’ll have to be better than we were last night to win because they won’t be as bad," Fisher told the Dallas Morning News before Friday’s practice. "They’ll be much better, and we’ll have to be better also."
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 CDT and the game can be seen on TNT.
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