Fisher Beginning to Find His Shot

Derek Fisher made his final three shots against the New York Knicks on Wednesday. In a blowout, Coach Phil Jackson smiled and the players on the bench applauded and Fisher’s shoulders appeared to relax again.

“Finally,” Jackson would say later, not with impatience.

It was Fisher who had the steady training camp while other players sought their games. It was Fisher who worked the disappointment of losing his starting position into a healthy competitiveness and then disappeared into the flow of the team.

So it was with some frustration that Fisher shot 34.9% from the field and 29% from the three-point arc in 11 games, then missed his first nine shots against the Knicks.

And still Fisher kept firing, having taken only nine fewer shots than Karl Malone in 121 fewer minutes.

“With the guys we have,” Fisher said late Wednesday night, “you can’t be the weak guy out there in terms of being aggressive.”

It was precisely Jackson’s point to Fisher at halftime.

“I told Fish I think he’s been feeling the pressure of trying to stay aggressive offensively,” he said. “But there’s a difference between being aggressive ... and being too aggressive, so you carry it to an extreme. He let it come to him a lot better in the second half.”

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TONIGHT

vs. Chicago, 7:30, Fox Sports Net

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 9-3, Bulls 4-8.

Record vs. Bulls (2002-03) -- 1-1.

Update -- The Bulls have won three of their last four games against the Lakers but have lost five of their last six games to the Lakers in Los Angeles.