Playoff Date with Lakers Awaits

//Playoff Date with Lakers Awaits

Playoff Date with Lakers Awaits

By | 2016-10-22T05:57:44-08:00 May 14th, 2012|News|Comments Off on Playoff Date with Lakers Awaits

Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant will always be friends, but starting Monday night they’re enemies.


They were all smiles in March, but it’s all business for Kobe and D-Fish on opposite sides come Monday night (Getty Images).

Drafted the same year by the Los Angeles Lakers, Fish and Kobe formed what Bryant recently called a "brotherhood." They won three titles together before Derek left for stints in Golden State and Utah. Fish returned in 2007 and over the next four years they brought two more championships to Los Angeles.

They set about the 2011-2012 season in search of their sixth championship together, but LA’s decision to trade Derek at the deadline put an end to all that. Starting Monday they will meet for the first time ever in the postseason as Derek’s new team the Thunder takes on the Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. Fish told reporters after practice on Sunday that facing Bryant and his former team in the playoffs will be a unique experience, one he relishes.

"For those of you that have brothers, you know what that means," he said of Bryant’s remarks. "I have no doubt that’s how he meant it, that it’s going to be like facing your brother, but your brother oftentimes was the recipient of some of the hardest blows you ever delivered. I’m sure he’s planning to deliver quite a few and I’ll be ready to deliver some as well and it’s going to be fun to just have to compete against the best."

The Thunder had to wait a full week from the time they closed out the Dallas Mavericks to find out who their second round opponent would be. The Denver Nuggets took the Lakers to the brink — a Game 7 on Saturday night in Los Angeles — but LA prevailed setting up the highly anticipated matchup.

"It seems that’s just the way it’s supposed to be," Fish said of playing the Lakers. "They have a number of guys that have been the best before…. That’s what we want to be and at this point, we meet."

Though it will be Derek’s first time opposite the Lakers, this year’s Western Conference Semifinals does not mark the first time OKC and Los Angeles have met in the postseason. They last played back in 2010 when the Lakers eliminated a young, playoff inexperienced Thunder team on the way to the title. The matchup bred a rivalry that will carry on this postseason.

But the rivalry aspect and the bright lights associated with playing the Lakers are two things Derek believes the Thunder must ignore to succeed. 

"Any time teams play against the Lakers, it just means more," Derek said. "There’s more emphasis, there’s more spotlight, there are more people paying attention because of the history of the organization. But those things aren’t really important in terms of how the games end up being played. You have to block all those things out and once you step in between those lines just concentrate on basketball."


Fish raved about the intensity of OKC’s practices during the week off (Getty Images).

While they waited on the outcome of the Lakers/Nuggets series, Fish and the Thunder weren’t just sitting and watching. They practiced hard and scrimmaged harder, something Derek believes was necessary to maintain a competitive edge.

"What is fun about this team is there is still a certain intensity and competitiveness between the guys that exists," he said. Being on a veteran team the last couple years, that’s something where practice wasn’t always the most energetic. Being on a young team that plays with a lot of passion, as close as these guys are, it gets tense out there in practice. That part has been good. That’s what you need to keep everybody at a certain level."

D-Fish doesn’t expect rust to be a factor for the Thunder on Monday night, nor does he anticipate fatigue to weigh the Lakers down. Both teams know what is at stake and how important getting off to a good start can be in a postseason series.

"Game 1 is

[tonight] at 8:30 and that’s all that matters," he said. "It doesn’t matter who has had days off or who you played in the first round, or what has happened in the past. All that matters is when the game starts, which team is going to be ready to play. Not just from the start but for 48 minutes or 53 minutes or 58 minutes or however long it takes to win the game. That’s what our focus will have to be."

Asked what secrets he shared with his Thunder teammates about the way the Lakers operate, Fish admitted there wasn’t much kept secret about LA. Everyone is aware of how good they are, the Thunder have played them before — in the playoffs no less — and know what to expect.

"I don’t think Kobe is a secret. I don’t think Pau Gasol is a secret. You don’t need any insight to know how great those two guys are," he said. "I don’t think people question anymore whether Andrew Bynum is one of the best centers in the game in terms of his presence on the floor. We don’t need a rocket scientist to say that Metta World Peace is going to make a difference. He’s going to be physical on the defensive end. He makes their team go in a lot of ways. So I don’t know if there’s anything special I need to tell our guys other than to embrace this moment, embrace the challenges that are in front of us and have fun."


A championship banner in OKC is Derek’s goal (Getty Images).

The Thunder will do so while keeping in mind their ultimate goal: to surpass the Lakers on the road to an NBA title.

"There’s no question that once the opportunity presented itself to join this particular team (OKC) at the point I did this season, thoughts immediately went to how good we could possibly be – that we were good enough to win right now," Fish said. "We didn’t have to wait until next year or some random time in the future. Those are where my thoughts still lie. That’s how I will try to continue to focus as we go forward."

Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers tips off on Monday night from Chesapeake Energy Arena at 8:30 CDT. The game can be seen nationally on TNT.

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