The night belonged to Derek Fisher. It was one of those magical evenings where, in the words of Miss Gossip, my compadre at Fanhouse, ‘the basketball Gods wanted Derek Fisher to have this one.’

It was only fitting that Fisher forced Golden State’s unstoppable Baron Davis (36 points) into turnover late in regulation as the Warriors choked away a five point lead in the final 35 seconds, and then hit the definitive three-pointer in overtime to break the game open and propel the Jazz to a 127-117 victory and 2-0 series lead.

In the annals of NBA playoff history, this may have been the most memorable performance for someone who showed up late and played a mere nine minutes. We were always D-Fish fans when he was with the Lakers; we’ve always had a thing for lefties. His emotional performance may have destroyed the spirit of Warriors, who appeared to have this game locked up in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. (So much so, that Golden State of Mind has a large gift box on the front of its blog this morning. There should have been a brick sitting on top of the box.) We’re still shocked the Warriors were in position to win despite a 60-32 rebounding deficit and another shitty performance from Stephen ‘I’m going to miss Game 7 because I popped off at a strip club’ Jackson (4-for-18).

The series shifts to Golden State Friday, and chances are good we’ll miss the game because we’re probably going to see Spiderman.

Out of the Darkness (Yahoo)
An almost perfect day for Fisher (Salt Lake Tribune)
Emotional return for Fisher (Salt Lake Tribune)