Mike Dunleavy: Lakers do it with two Ds: Derek Fisher and defense

Mike Dunleavy, former coach and general manager of the Clippers, is The Times’ guest analyst on the NBA Finals. Dunleavy has coached four NBA teams — the Clippers, Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. He was NBA coach of the year in 1999 with Portland.

The Lakers got big production from their two Ds in Game 3.

That’s Defense and D. Fisher.

Derek Fisher was really impressive in the fourth quarter. It seems like he’s been making big shots forever, and he made three huge ones down the stretch to clinch this victory. His ability to come through in pressure situations takes the heat off his teammates and lets them relax and play their game.

As for the defense, it came up big, especially against Ray Allen. After setting a Finals record with eight three-pointers in Game 2, Allen went 0 for 13 — one short of the futility record for the Finals. Part of that was him being off, but a lot of it was the Lakers’ defense. They never gave him clean looks. They kept the pressure on him all the time.

In Game 2, the Lakers let Boston establish the tempo. This time, they didn’t let the Celtics get out in the open court. The Lakers weren’t back on their heels the whole game, and Rajon Rondo wasn’t getting to the rim or putting the passes on the numbers the way he did in Game 2. That meant the Celtics didn’t have time to set up and get their shots.

The only criticism I have of the Lakers is that sometimes L.A. drifts away from Pau Gasol.

It’s hard to ignore what Gasol does. His game is very Kevin McHale-like, with his great length and solid footwork. He’s a sound fundamental player who has great low-post moves and can also shoot that face-up jumper. The Lakers need to get him the ball more when they can, because he just delivers. Look no further than his field-goal percentage throughout the series.

Boston has got to go back to the formula that worked in Game 2: defend better, push the ball, control the tempo. They need their big three — Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Allen — to step up in a big way.

As for the Lakers, they took care of business — for the moment. But they need to keep the pressure on. You never know what’s going to happen in the Finals. You never know when an injury is going to pop up, or something happens that suddenly takes your goal away from you.

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