LOS ANGELES — Gee, if they didn't like Derek Fisher in Utah at the start of this season, what are they thinking now?

A year removed from etching his own chapter in Jazz playoff history, Fisher is doing his part to secure his status as an enemy of the people in Salt Lake City — whether it's with his inside knowledge gained from his stay with the Jazz, or his on-court play and veteran savvy.

Wednesday night, Fisher was a key contributor as the Lakers built a 2-0 lead over the Jazz in their conference semifinal series, finishing with 22 points, three steals and two assists in a 120-110 victory.

And so, when the series moves to Utah on Friday, you can rest assured Fisher will be greeted a whole lot differently than he was a year ago today. It was on May 8 of last year when Fisher made a dramatic mid-game arrival after his 10-month-old daughter underwent eye-cancer surgery in New York to lead the Jazz to an overtime win against Golden State in Game 2 of that second-round series.

"A lot's changed in a year," said Fisher. "And it is strange to think about where we were then, to where I am and we are now."

Fisher subsequently was allowed to leave Utah in order to seek the best place for daughter Tatum's ongoing medical treatment, and wound up back in Los Angeles.

That didn't sit well with Utah fans at the time — hence the booing during his first return to Salt Lake City as a Laker back in November — and it figures to irritate them even more now that Fisher is such an important veteran presence on a Lakers team halfway to ending the Jazz's season.

He returned to L.A. as a stabilizing force in a young back court.

"Derek is a student of the game, he's a leader, he prepares himself well for playing the game," said coach Phil Jackson. "He's had a good attitude with this young players and nurtured the younger ballplayers along."

Now that the playoffs have arrived, he's at least as valuable as an old hand who has enough postseason experience to have one of the signature moments in recent Lakers playoff history, the "0.4" game at San Antonio in 2004.

"This," said Jackson, "is a good time for him to step up."

And so he has. In the series opener, he had six steals — equaling his career high in any game and setting a personal best for the playoffs. Tuesday's effort included a 4-for-5 showing on 3-pointers, and all of them were fairly significant.

"Fish was really great," said Jackson. "The first half he had a magnificent half, did a lot of things defensively that were right on beam. He really was a solid fixture for us out there tonight."

On top of all that, there's that knowledge he can pass along from his time with the Jazz. While Jackson noted there are few surprises when two teams have had the same coaching staffs for so long — he estimated the current Jazz team has three offensive sets (out of perhaps 40) that have been added since the Bulls faced Utah in the 1996-97 Finals — Fisher's Utah experience still has value.

"There's a person that knows a lot more that we can ever impart to the players," said Jackson. "We can tell them what they're going to do, and yet there's the reaction time and all the other things that go into it that make it easier for him."

Fisher doesn't want to make too much of this inside-knowledge concept.

"I guess it can be helpful," he says, "just in terms of some overall thoughts and things that I know Jerry and the coaching staff feel strongly about but I think that's about as far as it goes.

"The game is such one of reactions and being able to make split-second decisions, it's hard for it to become bigger than what it is — just information for guys at times that can be useful. I don't know how much it's going to help us as the series goes on."

If nothing else, it may help him. After all, some of those six steals Sunday looked as if he knew what was coming. And while he was less larcenous Wednesday, he certainly knew how to find and pick his spots to score.

Fisher, one of the league's nicest guys, admits to being "caught off guard" by the booing he received in November — "I didn't expect to be cheered or revered as a hero of any kind," he said, "but I didn't expect that reaction" — but he's much better prepared for any kind of reception now.

"I don't know if you'll be able to hear anybody that has anything negative to say," Fisher said. "It's going to be that loud."

Of course, in coming back with a 2-0 lead after a big game, it's pretty easy to ignore boos or comments — or see them as a sort of backhanded tribute to Fisher's value to the Lakers.

— Contact columnist David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.