Lakers’ Derek Fisher will be missed as a leader in Game 3

Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends on days of Lakers playoff games.

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The Fisher effect

Derek Fisher hasn’t exactly been great, making nine of his last 47 three-point attempts (19.1%), but his on-court leadership will be missed tonight.

In fact, after crunching a series of important logarithms and permutations, I think his absence will cost the Lakers exactly 7.1 points in Game 3.

OK, maybe all I did was subtract Jordan Farmar’s playoff scoring average from Fisher’s.

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View from the other bench

“The 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner made headlines by consistently putting up triple-doubles and taking the girls’ game above the rim by dunking regularly.”

Sorry. That’s a snippet from a Houston Chronicle article on the All-Greater Houston girls’ basketball team.

My bad.

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Q&A; of the day

Question: Do you believe that the heightened emotions displayed in Game 2 are good or bad for the Lakers?

--Bob Anderson, Atlanta

Answer: They showed some fire after tiptoeing through their first six playoff games, but they shouldn’t have to spur themselves into action.

That top-seeded team in the other conference continues to pound opponents without racking up flagrant fouls and ejections to provide a spark.

Two weeks ago, I’d have agreed with oddsmakers that the Lakers were favored to win the NBA championship. Now I’d say their approach has been a little too . . . cavalier.

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Worst-case scenario tonight

The game is so tense that it boils over into the media seats. Writers from the L.A. Times and Houston Chronicle even come to blows, which would be bad. Rockets writer Jonathan Feigen is bigger than me.

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Final thought

The Lakers have played well in Houston, going 5-2 over the last four years, but I’m predicting a mirror image of Game 3 in the Utah series. Lakers lose by two.

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