Lakers News: Derek Fisher Pinpoints Where Monday Night's Fourth Quarter Went Very Wrong
Your Los Angeles Lakers struggled to contain the visiting Indiana Pacers late in the fourth quarter of a very winnable game on Monday.
Everything ultimately came down to the contest's closing seconds. Rookie reserve guard Andrew Nembhard was able to exploit a defensive mistake and nail a game-winning, buzzer-beating triple.
So what happened, exactly?
Five-time Lakers champ Derek Fisher, now a commentator for Spectrum SportsNet, unpacked how the Lakers' defense fell apart during a critical final possession with L.A. leading by two points, 115-113, during his "Fish's Focus" segment:
"Late clock, late game situations, you end up getting beat off the smallest little things," Fisher noted. "And here, the out-of-bounds-set, Buddy Hield's coming around. You've got a little confusion here, two guys on one. So now as Austin Reaves chases Hield, it leaves Myles Turner open. He's a 43% three-point shooter. But now, full scramble mode."
After the Pacers secured the long rebound, point guard Tyrese Haliburton was able to make an excellent dish off to a wide-open Nembhard.
"LeBron [James] with a little bit of hesitation on the close-out [on Andrew Nembhard], hands are down. Nembhard has just enough space to get it off and up. It's really the first shot, the one that Myles Turner took from the top of the key, that's the rebound you gotta come up with somehow. There's no way they should be able to get two shots off in that situation."
Fisher knows of what he speaks, given that he was a 3-and-D stalwart in his day.
L.A. is in the midst of its next game, a Portland Trail Blazers home bout, right now. Here's hoping the team remembers to play all 48 minutes this time.
