Best buddies Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher were both taken in the 1996 NBA Draft.

Derek was with Kobe in the Lakers’ three-peat years (1999-2001)  took a brief stint with Golden State and Utah before coming back to help Kobe get his 4th championship ring (and without Shaq).

In the 2010 NBA Finals, the two remaining original members of the Lakers’ three-peat dominating days are again going hand-in-hand to getting that fifth ring; one more than former Laker buddy Shaquille O’Neal.

Bryant scored 29 points overall to lead the Lakers through the first 3 quarters with his 25 points. When he faltered in the fourth, that’s when Fisher took over, hitting four of five Lakers baskets after Boston cut a 17-point first-half lead down to one point as Los Angeles beat Boston 91-84 and take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Criticized for his lack of defense, he was also instrumental in Ray Allen’s worst shooting career — one game after setting an NBA record for 3-pointers made in a Finals game in Game 2.

Allen missed all 13 of his field goal attempts (8 3-pointers) which is one shy of the NBA finals futility record; in a very stark contrast to his 32 points (8 3-pointers) in the previous game. He scored his 2 points on free-throws.

Check out the Game 3 recap video below:

NOTE: The NBA Finals record for futility were set by two players; Chick Reiser for Baltimore at Philadelphia in 1948 and Dennis Johnson for Seattle against Washington in 1978. Both went 0 for 14.

Before Tuesday, Allen’s poorest shooting game in regular or postseason play was 0 for 9 against Memphis on Jan. 4, 2008. And since 1991-92, no player has ever done worse than 0 for 10 in a playoff game. New York’s Patrick Ewing did that on May 28, 1994, against Indiana and Philadelphia’s Charles Barkley matched that on May 13, 1995, against Houston.

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Watch the 2010 NBA Finals online and don’t miss Game 4 of the Lakers vs Celtics LIVE stream on Thursday, June 10 at 9 PM.

Check out the full 2010 NBA Finals schedule to make sure you don’t miss the games.

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Tags: 2010 NBA finals, boston celtics, derek fisher, kobe bryant, la lakers, ray allen