Fisher’s Number Comes Up

In their most critical regular-season game so far, Phil Jackson played Derek Fisher at point guard for 38 minutes on Sunday, and Fisher had 16 points, four assists and one turnover.

The starting point guard, Lindsey Hunter, played three minutes--the first three--and spent the rest of the game, a 97-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings, on the bench, his purple warmup zipped to his chin.

“I’d hate to be predictable,” Jackson said.

Afterward, the soft-spoken Hunter, whose shot has eluded him in recent weeks, said he has felt a little off.

“I just need to get some balance back in my step,” he said. “That’s all I worry about, how I feel, if I’m feeling quick and alive. But, I’m healthy enough to be playing.”

In the meantime, as Hunter has groped for his game, Fisher has become decisive.

“There are things both Lindsey and I can bring,” he said.

*

Considering Rick Adelman once was depicted as Adolf Hitler in a Jackson shoot-’em-up flick, primarily because of the hair and mustache combo at the time, there’s no surprise he has become the Official Jackson Contrarian.

If Jackson believed Sunday’s game was critical to the Pacific Division race, which he said last week, then it could not possibly be.

“Really, well,” Adelman said. “He obviously knows a lot more than everybody else, me included.

“I think Phil’s just talking. But, what amazes me is people keep listening and taking him seriously.”

Then, eventually, Adelman got around to making Jackson’s point, which he must have hated.

“For the division,” he concluded, “it’s a big game.”

* The Kings had been 26-0 when leading after the first quarter at Arco Arena. They led, 30-27, on Sunday.