Fisher’s Return Brings Hope

So encouraged by their near miss against the Seattle SuperSonics on Sunday night were the Lakers that they were thinking really big Monday.

Twenty games remain in the regular season. Brian Shaw said they could win 18, should win 18.

No way, said Derek Fisher. “Nineteen,” he ventured. “Nineteen and one.”

Laker Coach Phil Jackson dropped his head and chuckled.

“They’re dreamers,” he said.

Maybe not. For one thing, they won’t play Seattle again.

Fisher, the defensive conscience of a team that only has dabbled in it for 4 1/2 months, could be activated in time for tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics. His return is from a stress fracture in his right foot, then summer surgery, then seven months of rehabilitation.

He stood Monday on the Lakers’ practice court, his home and away court since the rehabilitation began, and could not arrest the grin that crept across his face. He was almost there.

“I’m definitely ready to go back to work,” he said.

Fisher is thicker through the shoulders and chest than he’s ever been, and that’s good, because he has much to bear.

But for a few exceptions, the Lakers have not defended their title so much as they have lived on it. Maybe it is Fisher they’ve needed all along, for he plays hard and smart. But, mostly, he defends.

“All the things he’s made of, we’re lacking,” Shaw said. “You can interpret that however you want to interpret it. Some more toughness. Taking charges. Getting loose balls. Things like that. Leadership. A knowledge of how the offense runs. What he brings to the team, we’ve been missing all year long.”

On the way to 41-21, the Lakers have been damaged by scoring guards--Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Steve Nash and Ray Allen, among them. Their own guards lack the quickness or desire to thwart lane penetration, leaving the Lakers leaning and vulnerable. Their transition defense has been slow, meaning they’re giving up a raft of easy baskets.

The Lakers rank 27th in the league in steals and 29th in forcing turnovers, part of the reason they give up more points than all but four NBA teams. They only now are beginning to show improvement in opponents’ field-goal percentage.

If getting Fisher back raises Laker morale, if having Ron Harper and Kobe Bryant heal so their backcourt looks familiar again, then who’s to laugh at 18-2, with 11 of those on the road, some in places such as Orlando, Milwaukee, Sacramento and Utah?

Who, other than Jackson, that is.

“My goal, personally, and our goal as a team, would be to try our best to get to 60 wins,” Fisher said. “I’m sure Phil would not want to hear us say these things and put extra pressure on ourselves. But we feel like we need some of that now. We need to start holding each other accountable and holding this team responsible for what’s going on. There’s nothing wrong with setting lofty goals.

“We want to be the best team in the West. That does not assure us of being Western Conference champions, but that’s definitely something we’ve been shooting for.”

Red Auerbach attended a basketball game in Boston over the weekend and told the Boston Globe he had just seen the best team in the NBA.

“I’m picking them to win it all,” Auerbach said of the Philadelphia 76ers. “Philly is a hell of a ballclub. They’ve got all kinds of balance, quickness and height. It’s between them and San Antonio.”

Remember when people--maybe not Auerbach, but people--accused the Lakers of having balance and quickness and height? Well, balance and height? Of being tall?

Remember when there was no stopping the baby dynasty of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, when O’Neal and Bryant were so young and so unstoppable and so very special? That was, like, six months ago.

Today, they awoke, dying to get Fisher on their roster, still dying for one defensive stop against Seattle, dying for a restart to a season that got so messy so fast they haven’t yet composed themselves.

Fisher brings composure the way Bryant brings self-confidence.

“More than anything, he’s got a really good stand-up kind of responsibility for his own behavior and character,” Jackson said. “He encourages his teammates really strongly. He’s a spokesman in that regard. He brings something that’s special in his character.”

Fisher arrives as Jackson is beginning to experiment on defense. The Lakers occasionally attempted to trap Seattle. They have used their guards to double-team, or at least harass, opponents in the post.

“Overall,” Fisher said, “we need to play with more energy, more enthusiasm, really dig in defensively.

“The rest of the guys will kind of catch on. I’m just going to go out and play hard. I’m not going to carry the expectations of this whole team on my shoulders.”

O’Neal, considering an 18-2 finish--maybe a 19-1 finish--raised his eyebrows.

“Maybe Fish is our hero,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Numbers Game

Career statistics of Derek Fisher, a fifth-year guard:

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Games FG% 3PT% FT% REB A STL AVG 290 .385 .344 .724 524 865 257 5.4

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ALSO

BRYANT

STILL AILING

Kobe Bryant, stricken by a viral infection, is questionable for Lakers’ game tonight against the Celtics. D4

SPURS: 99

CLIPPERS: 81

Tim Duncan had 28 points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio won its seventh consecutive game. D4