Celtics make it a rough night on Lakers guards

In the end, the “tough night” that Lakers Coach Phil Jackson spoke about turned out to be excoriating because they turned to one of the starting guards that was having that tough night to provide the biggest shot of the game.

Instead, Derek Fisher was unable to deliver in the clutch, his off-balance jumper not coming close, sending the Lakers to an 87-86 defeat to the Boston Celtics at Staples Center on Thursday night.

Fisher (one for nine) and Shannon Brown (two for nine) were a combined three-for-18 shooting from the field. They scored a combined 11 points.

For a starting backcourt, that’s not getting it done.

“Tough night for our two guards,” Jackson said.

For Fisher, it was even tougher because he was assigned to defend Ray Allen.

Allen got free for 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting, four for six on three-pointers.

“Fish had a hard time,” Jackson said. “[Allen] got hot.”

When the game hung in the balance, the ball found its way to Fisher and Brown in the fourth quarter.

Brown missed all four of his shots in the fourth.

“I think Shannon had wide open shots, but he just didn’t take them with that kind of self-described confidence that he has to step in and take those shots like ‘this is going down type of thing,’ ” Jackson said. “I thought that was one of the energy things.”

Fisher missed both of his shots in the fourth, including the potential game-winner.

“Fish, I thought he had to force a few shots because he wanted to get involved,” Jackson said. “I don’t think he had as good of a looks as Shannon had.”

The Lakers trailed, 85-84, when Brown (eight points) missed a jumper out of a timeout with 3:13 left.

The Lakers trailed, 87-86, when Fisher missed on a drive with 1:53 left.

The Lakers trailed again by 87-86 when Brown missed a 21-foot jumper with 1:11 left.

“They were wide open,” Brown said about his shot attempts. “But the way this offense is, you really try to rely on the offense sometimes to get your shot. You might have a wide-open shot that don’t feel as comfortable as another shot. Every shot felt good. No excuses. I should have made them.”

The Lakers didn’t have Kobe Bryant to turn to because he had missed his fifth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle.

That left it up to Fisher.

The Celtics had a foul to give, something Fisher knew and thought about before the ball was inbounded with 2.2 seconds left and the Lakers trailing by one point.

He was expecting Allen to “wrap me up real quick” when Fisher got the ball, but that was not the case.

Fisher said he hesitated, which was not a good thing to do with so little time on the clock when the Lakers got the ball back.

Worse, Fisher had missed six consecutive shots after making a 20-foot jumper with 7:15 left in the first quarter.

Still, Fisher said he refused to waver in his confidence to take and make the shot.

He said one “has to” forget about the other misses and take your chance that you will make the next one.

Unfortunately for Fisher and the Lakers, he did not, his 21-foot jumper not hitting the rim.

“If you’re confident in yourself and you know your teammates are confident in you, if you’re open, you have to be willing to take the shot and live with the consequences,” said Fisher, who finished with three points. “Like I said, that wasn’t the type of shot that I would have liked to have gotten in that situation.

“But if there is anybody else on the team that is willing to and can take whatever comes with it if you don’t make it, it’s me. I’ll take whatever comes with it.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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