Held in Reserve

All this talk about coaches tossing out bait and reporters being mounted like prize catches, and practically no one is discussing the man the Lakers call “D Fish.”

Derek Fisher is the one that got away from the Laker-Rocket series, his stellar play in a reserve role lost among Kobe Bryant’s acrobatic shots and Shaquille O’Neal’s foul troubles and the constant yapping about the officiating (and whether the media fell for it). Laker fans even fret about Gary Payton’s mopey expressions on the bench before they celebrate Fisher’s play that kept him there.

Fisher played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 2. He wasn’t spectacular; Fisher rarely is. He had a couple of buckets and a steal. Not known for his play around the hoop, he even had a tip-in for the first time in so long even he wasn’t quite sure. “Maybe in practice,” he said.

It was an indication of what he did during that game: hustle, make plays, keep the Laker energy going. With reserves Fisher, Kareem Rush and Luke Walton in the game, the Lakers stretched their lead from 10 points to 16 in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

When an individual or unit is playing well, Coach Phil Jackson will let them stay in as long as he or it is being productive.

“I think he’s always had a knack for it, for guys making a difference in the game,” Fisher said. “At least give them an extra couple of minutes to see how that plays out. If your normal rotation is six or seven minutes, he may give you eight or nine if you’re really out there working hard and making a difference in the game. Not just making shots, but if you’re helping us execute, if you’re playing defense, if you’re getting loose balls.”

In the playoffs, when every little thing matters, Fisher has made five of nine shots, including all three from three-point range. He has 16 points in the Lakers’ two victories, 11 of them in Game 2

So Fisher keeps playing, even if it means Payton has to sit and stew.

It has been said that Fisher was the one brooding last summer, down about losing his starting job after Payton signed a free-agent contract with the Lakers. Fisher had hoped to use this season to put up big numbers, then exercise the escape clause in his contract to see what the market would bear.

He came out trying to make the most of his minutes, attempting to squeeze starter’s shots into a bench role. He spent his time on the court with the reserves, which meant fewer of the open looks that came his way when O’Neal and Bryant were around to distract the defense. He also played with people unfamiliar with the triangle offense and/or unwilling to run it. The offense plays into Fisher’s hands because it uses spacing, movement and passing to create open shots. When too many people start dribbling, or Fisher is asked to dribble himself, it breaks down.

He shot a career-low 35% this season, making only 29% of his three-point shots. And as Fisher’s numbers sagged, so did his spirits.

“It was difficult,” Fisher said. “I think initially I thought this was like everything else I’ve had to go through: I’ll figure it out, I’ll get through it. It increasingly became more difficult to really just relax and have fun and play. That’s when you’re at your best, when you’re focused and you’re serious and passionate about what you do, but at the same time you can relax and have fun and be confident. Just going out there and playing. I think I finally got to that point

He started with defense, the one aspect of the game he could control. He might not be able to dictate when and where he’d get the ball, but he could concentrate on guarding his man and creating turnovers. He came up with 103 steals, 10 better than the career mark he set the season before despite playing 1,060 fewer minutes this season. And in the final 11 games of the season, the Dallas Cowboy fan had a takeaway-giveaway ratio that would make Bill Parcells proud: 22 steals to seven turnovers.

In the late-season games, Fisher got more time alongside Payton in the backcourt, with Bryant sliding over to small forward. Some of it was by necessity after Rick Fox dislocated his right thumb and was sidelined the last three games, and some of it was because the Lakers could afford it against smaller lineups.

As a result he got to build his confidence. Not even a groin injury suffered in the final seconds of double overtime in the last regular-season game has deterred him.

“When the playoffs come, I think you really have to focus in even more on what it is you’re trying to accomplish,” Fisher said.

“It’s a matter of doing everything that you can to make sure that the team wins and advances each round.”

Fisher is doing his part right now. At least it has not gone completely unnoticed.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.

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By the Numbers

Derek Fisher’s regular-season, playoff statistics (shade denotes seasons Lakers won NBA title):

*--* SEASON G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG TO PPG 1996-97 80 3 11.5 397 301 658 1.20 1.5 51 89 3.9 1997-98 82 36 21.5 434 383 757 2.40 4.1 91 1.45 5.8 1998-99 50 21 22.6 376 392 759 1.80 3.9 1.22 1.54 5.9 1999-00 78 22 23.1 346 313 724 1.80 2.8 1.03 96 6.3 2000-01 20 20 35.5 412 397 806 3.00 4.4 1.95 1.45 11.5 2001-02 70 35 28.2 411 413 847 2.10 2.6 94 89 11.2 2002-03 82 82 34.5 437 401 800 2.90 3.6 1.13 1.15 10.5 2003-04 82 3 21.6 352 291 797 1.90 2.3 1.26 96 7.1 Career 544 222 23.7 397 368 766 2.10 3.0 1.03 1.11 7.4 Playoffs 97 68 26.4 433 440 759 2.50 2.6 99 97 8.7

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