Even in a 102-91 defeat, Shannon Brown provides Lakers with a lift

Shannon Brown was asked to provide the Lakers with a lift, with a spark, with something in their time of need.

Derek Fisher, the starting point guard, was unable to get the job done against the Clippers Wednesday night.

The 35-year-old point guard didn’t produce on offense and had difficulty on defense. So Lakers Coach Phil Jackson went with Brown instead.

Brown delivered with 15 points on six-for-10 shooting.

It wasn’t enough to stop the Lakers from losing, 102-91, to the Clippers at Staples Center, but Brown’s energy gave the Lakers something they lacked.

It wasn’t enough to stop Baron Davis from scoring 25 points and dishing out 10 assists for the Clippers, but Brown’s play gave the Lakers a chance.

“Shannon played great,” Jackson said. “He came in, got 15 points, played the position pretty well. I thought he did a good job on Davis there in that situation.”

Brown played the entire fourth quarter because Fisher struggled. He had three points on one-for-three shooting.

Brown made two of three shots in the fourth.

But it was his defense on Davis that allowed him to stay on the court.

“I was just trying to do what it took for my team to win,” Brown said. “I was trying to play defense, slow Baron Davis down.

“He had a heck of a third quarter when he came out and he was getting and-ones [three-point plays]. He was knocking down threes, pull-up jumpers. I just tried to come in and slow him down a little bit.”

Davis had 14 points in the third quarter.

“We adjusted our defense a little bit to get the ball out of his hands at little bit,” Brown said. “But we came back. We tied the game up.”

The Lakers trailed by 15 points and tied the score at 81-81 on a 16-foot jumper by Brown with 8:12 left.

The Lakers tied it again at 83-83 on a two free throws by Jordan Farmar.

But the Lakers never got over the hump.

“We made either careless mistakes or didn’t rebound the ball,” Brown said. “That gave them easy run-outs.”

Because of his size at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Brown is a good matchup for the bigger points guards like the 6-3, 215-pound Davis.

“It’s a great matchup for me,” Brown said. “I want those matchups. That’s what people look at. Instead of looking at teams all the time, most of the time they are looking at individuals, as far as like this guy versus this guy, like it’s not four other people on the court.

“But, you know, I’m all for it. They are going to make me better, and I’m going to make them better.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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