Fisher-Van Exel Duo Now a Proven Option

The true return of Kobe Bryant to the lineup Tuesday night, after he had played only three minutes the game before, meant the likely end to the two-point guard backcourt of Derek Fisher and Nick Van Exel, a very rare pairing in their previous two seasons together but one that was forced into an expanded role during the Western Conference semifinals.

“They’ve done a good job,” Coach Del Harris said. “They’re both good passers, very effective. If you look at assist-to-turnover ratio over the playoffs, they’re very close. And defensively, they’ve held their own.

“It’s not easy. But Derek plays a little bigger than he is [6 feet 1, 200 pounds] because of bulk and strength.

“We’re not going to seek it [in the future]. But it’s something that’s a proven option now that we can do.”

The Lakers didn’t seek it out this time, either, but went that way when they employed a small lineup or Eddie Jones, the shooting guard, took a rest. Without Bryant to plug in, the option would have been to pull Jon Barry out of the rotation and play him in place of Jones.

Instead, Harris went with the 6-1, 190-pound Van Exel and Fisher together for brief stretches, but still more than compared to before, when it was usually saved for end-of-game situations to get an extra ballhandler on the floor. The obvious drawback is that the Lakers become a defensive liability there because someone has to match up with a shooting guard.

“We’ve done it a little bit in practice and had fun with it,” Fisher said. “The last few games have been fun. Just because we’re small, it’s a challenge.”

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Statistics support what Harris and Jones already had said: the 23, 29 and 32 points in consecutive outings, a streak capped Sunday with another playoff career high, marked the best three-game run in Jones’ career, 84 points in all.

“I wish somebody would say he’s not good in the playoffs so we could get him going again,” Harris said, hoping for motivation that might further fuel Jones’ fire. “He’s really set a mark that’s going to be tough to better. But we’re for him, all right.”

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Barry, after wearing the hospital bracelet that came with the birth of his son for the final game against Portland and then for the first game versus Seattle, has decided against making it part of his game-day wardrobe and covering it up with a sweat band if he played, as originally planned.

“We were 1-1,” he deadpanned. “That isn’t good enough.”