Tall doesn’t always equate to tough

Derek Fisher, enforcer?

Even without injured center Andrew Bynum, the Lakers still start a frontline of three players who are nearly seven feet tall. Still, Coach Phil Jackson said his team lacks a physical interior presence and, if pushed, would give the nod of enforcer to his 6-foot-1 point guard.

“We really don’t have a person like that on this team,” Jackson said. “That’s one of the things we don’t have. I think guys foul, there’s no one that delivers a blow on this team. Maybe [Fisher] is the best enforcer.”

Lamar Odom agrees.

“He plays with a lot of guts,” the 6-10 forward said of Fisher. “He puts his body out on the line. . . . We’ve been doing a great job of getting after it and he’s one of those guys that when you see him get after it, people follow.”

The absence of physical play in the post also can be attributed to the absence of players who strictly play in the post. Odom, Pau Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic, the Lakers’ frontline starters, are all versatile enough to spend as much time outside the paint as in it.

“I’m not so sure you have to have [an enforcer], but it makes people think about coming inside again when they have to pick themselves up or recover from the type of a blow,” Jackson said.

The pregame conversation started with what Jackson termed “more chippy than physical” play in the Lakers’ previous game against the Sacramento Kings last week.

“I thought Brad [Miller] delivered some blows out there that guys probably remembered for the last four or five days,” Jackson said.

“There’s hard fouls and then there’s a little extra stuff that goes in there. I think there was some extra stuff out there. But he’s their big guy . . . he’s got to be their enforcer.”

Something that, when he’s recovered from his knee injuries, Bynum could remedy.

“I don’t think he’s got to deliver the kind of knock-down-guys type of attitude as much as block shots or be there when guys catch the ball to suddenly intimidate them into something,” Jackson said.

Jackson credited Kobe Bryant for helping his teammates with their defensive schemes, saying it’s his most impressive footprint on the season to date.

“I think he’s taken more time to individually talk to guys about defense or how to defend certain people on the opposing team,” Jackson said. “We talk about tendencies and about characteristics with players, and Kobe, a lot of the time, takes it the next step and actually talks to guys about how they should half a guy or front somebody if he’s a post player. Or the fact if he’s decidedly a right or a left or whatever footwork he might use. He’ll usually add that information.”

The Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, which means . . . Yep, 81.

Tuesday will mark the second time Toronto has come to Staples Center since Bryant made history by scoring 81 points against the Raptors, the second-most ever scored in an NBA game.

Last season when Toronto played here, Bryant “settled” for 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com