Chapter Twenty Seven
Naruto took a seat in the media room and sighed as he was quickly bombarded with questions.
"Naruto after a long and hard fought season you have led this Lakers team to the playoffs. In your opinion what really pushed you guys to be as good as you were this season?"
"For me it's been my family and friends. They're always in my corner pushing me to be better."
"Naruto for four years you played under Rick Pitino in Louisville, yet you never even sniffed the amount of points you score now. Yet now under the same coach and system you've strived. What's different from what you were doing last year and now?"
Naruto scratched his chin and shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess a big difference is I'm looking to score more. I'm going after it harder on offense cause I understand that this team plays much better when I'm more engaged on the offensive end."
"Naruto you've managed to up your scoring while still maintaining your ability to get your teammates involved. How where you able to find a balance between the two as the season went on?"
"Well like I said this team is better when I take initiative on offense but in my opinion I think we're unbeatable when everyone is involved on offense. We have so many guys that have the ability to make an impact on our offense it would only do us a disservice to not get them involved."
"As a rookie you've lit it up in just about anyway possible , how do you plan on maintaining that high level of play throughout the playoffs?"
"Just gonna stay aggressive. Stick to my game and not let anyone throw me off. We've gotten this far by just doing us every night and hopefully if we stay focused we can go far in these playoffs."
"There was a lot of doubt when the Lakers traded away Pau Gasol for the pick that they used to draft you. How do you feel about all that noise now that your about to play in your first playoff game what are your thoughts on the early scrutiny that you faced."
Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders.
"All I got to say on that is I'm in the playoffs and the Cavs aren't."
With that said Naruto got up and left the media room.
Los Angeles Lakers(4) vs Houston Rockets (5) First Round: Game 1
Naruto stared up at the retired jerseys hanging up in the rafters as the national anthem was sung, in his head he saw the faces of his parents next to the jerseys. The All Star beat his chest once and pointed to the sky.
"This for y'all."
He brought his hand down and made a triangle using both hands. He held this pose for a few seconds before pulling his hands apart and and made the three symbol with both.
He quickly made a fist with both hands and beat his chest three times. Then he raised his fist to his mouth and blew into both of them three times, alternating from left to right. Then he brought his hands out and acted as if he was dumping something from them. Finally he brought his arms out and began to lightly beat the chest of two of his teammates, who just happened to be Butler and Young. He did this a few times before roaring and doing his Superman taunt as the national anthem ended.
"And Ladies and Gentlemen the first game of the NBA playoffs are almost underway and Naruto Uzumaki is ready!"
Naruto took off his warmup shirt and put his mouth guard in before heading over to the scorers where his mother and Kendall were waiting for him with Nina.
"You ready little bite?"
Nina nodded her head as she held her small hand out for her father and the two slapped hands three times, bumped wrist three times then they brushed off each others chest twice before finishing with a superman taunt and roar. Naruto turned around and beat his chest.
"LET'S GO!"
He turned back to his daughter.
"LET'S GO!"
Nina smiled.
"LET'S GO!"
"LET'S GO!"
"LET'S GO!"
Naruto smiled before giving Nina a quick peck on the forehead and sprinted off to the tipoff. He got halfway there before he turned back.
"I'm just messing with y'all, I'd never forget you two."
He gave his mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Good luck baby."
Naruto then gave Kendall a quick peck on the forehead.
"You got this."
The point guard nodded as he walked to the tipoff spot.
The Rockets won the tip and Patrick Beverly passed to Harden who drove to the basket before throwing a alley oop to Howard who slammed it in.
Butler instantly took the ball out and quickly passed to Naruto who ran up the court. Once he got past half court he took a few steps before pulling up from twenty five feet.
Everyone in Staples Center stood up as the shoot sailed through the air but it clanged off the front of the rim only to be slammed in by Butler.
"And Jimmy Butler rising to the occasion with that monster jam!"
Naruto high fived Butler as they got back of defense. Beverly walked the ball up the court before passing to Harden but Butler jumped in front of the pass and stole the ball. Naruto instantly took off as he and Butler got the three on one fastbreak against Beverly.
Jimmy threw a bounce pass to Naruto who instantly threw the ball into the air for Buttler who threw down a rim rocking two handed dunk.
"And Butler again! Working hard on both ends of the court early."
After his dunks Butler took over the first quarter scoring twenty one points and three steals. Naruto racked up six assists but was one for seven from the field.
The rookie sat on the bench with a towel over his head as the second quarter began. He had played all twelve minutes and his team was up by seven despite his terrible shooting performance.
Naruto watched for a few minutes as Butler grew tired and Houston chipped away at the small lead. With just over nine minutes Butler fouled Harden on a drive and The Beard was heading to the free throw line with the score 39-35.
"Uzumaki! Young! Your in for Butler and Livingston."
Naruto nodded and walked to the scorers table with Young. When he got there he took the towel off his head and watched as Harden made his first free throw. Naruto walked in the game but Butler stopped him.
"We need that killer to come out Ruto. Can't let em take the lead."
The All Star nodded and got in place as Harden hit his second free throw. Young inbounded the ball to Naruto who took off down the court and weaved into the paint. Harden, Howard and Jeremy Lin collapsed in on him but Naruto threw a shot up just as he was fouled.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he went to the free throw line and made both of his shots.
After Naruto's free throws Rudy Gobert grabbed a rebound off a missed three from Harden and threw it up in the air to Naruto who sprinted down the court. Both Harden and Lin were closely behind him. The rookie brought the ball up as Lin tried to strip him from behind but drew a whistle as he went for the layup.
Naruto hit the floor a laid there for a second to get his bearings as Young ran over and helped him up.
Naruto high fived his teammates as he went to the line and made both shots.
After his shots Harden ran up the court and hit a three making the game 43-40. Naruto slowly walked the ball up the court and called Gobert over for a screen. Once he led Lin over to it he rose up and knocked down a midrange jumper.
After his jump shot the Rockets when on a 8-0 run giving them the lead at 48-45.
Naruto slowly walked the ball up the court and passed to Young in the post. Young gave a few jab steps before he passed back to Naruto at the three point line.
Naruto caught the ball and gave a few jab steps before stepping back and knocked down a triple.
""And Uzumaki with a deep three. Ending that Houston run and tying the game back up."
Naruto ran up the court and bounced a little bit as he shook out his nerves.
On the other end Chandler Parsons tried to get a floater up and over Young but it clanged off the front of the rim and Naruto grabbed the rebound and took off down the court.
When he got to the three point line he stopped and pulled out as he decided to wait for his offense to set up. When they did he called Gobert over to set a screen. Just as before Naruto led Lin over to the screen but just before Lin hit it Naruto charged and squeezed between Lin and Gobert before driving to left side of the basket.
Parsons tried to get in front of him but Naruto picked up his dribble and laid the ball up with his left hand using his body to keep Parsons away from the ball.
"And just like that Naruto's got thirteen points. He's seem to have shaken off that first quarter rust."
After his shot Parsons scored and the ball was quickly inbounded to Young. Young walked the ball up the court. Naruto followed slowly behind his teammate and once he was at the three point line Young bounced the ball to him and the rookie wasted no time knocking down his second triple of the night.
On the other end the Rockets missed another shot and Gobert grabbed the rebound and quickly threw the ball out to Naruto who sprinted up the court. Lin got in front of him but the rookie ran past him and went up for a dunk. Howard jumped in front of him forcing him to use his left hand to slam to ball in.
The difficulty of the dunk made Naruto fall but he quickly jumped up and beat his chest and threw his fist at the air as Houston called timeout.
"And Naruto Uzumaki is fired up! We are seeing a superstar in the making. Gets the step on Lin and superman is just a little late rotating over and click click Dwight this is your Kodak moment."
Naruto grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat that was pouring down his body. He listened as his coach set a game plan. While he listened he looked down at his ankle which was experiencing a small bit of pain after his dunk.
After the timeout Whiteside came in for Gobert.
Coming out of the timeout the Rockets used a screen forcing Naruto to switch onto Harden. The beard went between his legs a few times before stepping back and rising up for a three. Naruto jumped up to contest the shot and hit a little bit of Hardens hand forcing a referee to blow his whistle.
Naruto watched as the ball hit the back of the rim and smirked as he looked at the ref.
"I barely touched him. That's not enough to get a call."
"You made contact during the shot that's a foul by the rules."
The rookie nodded as he chewed on his mouth guard and looked up at the score, 55-53.
Before Harden took his free throw Beverly checked in for Lin. Harden then knocked down his free throw completing the four point play and bringing them within one.
After the free throw the ball was inbounded to Naruto who had a screen set to make Harden switch up on to him. Naruto went between his legs a few times and behind his back. He then quickly went to pull up for a three but Harden hit his elbow and the All Star turned to the ref who ignored the contact and watched as Whiteside grabbed the rebound.
Naruto bit his tongue and made eye contact with Whiteside who nodded. The center went up to put the ball back in and Harden turned his attention to the paint not paying attention to Naruto who moved to the left allowing Whiteside to throw the ball out to him and knock down a open three.
On the other end Parsons missed a shot and Naruto grabbed the rebound only for Beverly to come up behind him and strip it from him. Naruto whipped the ball between his legs but Beverly got in front of him. Naruto tried to maintain his dribble as Beverly kept trying to slap at the ball. Beverly stepped on his foot causing the All Star to drop to his knee but he maintained dribbling.
The point guard looked up the court knowing he didn't have time to reach half court and went to throw the ball up the court but Beverly slapped him across the face trying to go for the ball.
Naruto glared at Beverly, as a ref blew their whistle, and uses how elbow to push Beverly away from him before he pushed him to the floor.
Naruto was immediately surrounded by players from both teams trying to defuse the situation and Naruto simply put his hands up and walked to his bench.
"You mad now!"
Naruto shook his head and looked back at Beverly."
"I ain't got no reason to be mad."
"Imma put that grown man defense on you."
"Don't matter you know what happened in the regular season."
"This the playoffs now, that don't matter. I'm gonna put you in your place."
"That's all you do is talk, we gonna settle this on the hardwood."
Beverly nodded and the two separated.
After a debate between the referees they decided to issue a double technical to Naruto and Beverly which led to Naruto sitting out the rest of the second as the Lakers went into the half up 69-60 behind 29 points from Butler and 21 points from Naruto.
To start the second half Butler came out blazing hot for the first few minutes going on his own personal 10-0 run with Naruto feeding him the ball.
After a missed shot by Harden Naruto decided to take it coast to coast and weaved through the defense for a left handed layup.
"And both Jimmy Butler and Naruto Uzumaki have come alive in the spotlight! They have this entire building on its feet."
On the other end Howard missed a shot and Naruto grabbed the rebound and walked the ball up the court. He watched as Whiteside set a screen down low for Butler to get free and the point guard threw the ball to the corner where a open Butler caught it and quickly knocked down a three.
Naruto nodded his head as he walked up the court. On the other end Beverly tried to throw the ball down low to Howard but Butler surprised everyone when he jumped in front of the pass. The former Chicago Bulls player took off down the court with Naruto and Beverly.
Butler threw a bounce pass to Naruto who drove a little bit more before throwing a bounce pass right back to Butler. Beverly wasn't able to turn around in time as Butler rose up and threw down a monstrous one handed dunk.
The crowd exploded as Butler roared and the Rockets called timeout.
"And Jimmy Butler with a ferocious jam! He's tallied up forty one points in his most dominant performance to date."
Coming out of the time out Naruto decided not to let Jimmy have all the fun.
Parsons missed a three and Marcus Morris grabbed the rebound. He handed it off to Butler who quickly shot the ball up the court to Naruto who euro stepped through the lane for a reverse layup.
Houston finally stopped the run with a three from Harden and Naruto looked at Butler.
"Yoo put him on lock."
Butler nodded as Morris inbounded the ball to him. The shooting guard walked the ball up the court. He passed to Naruto in the corner who brought the ball low. He looked Beverly in his eye before smirking as he gave a quick jab step. Beverly Feiffer for it and took a few steps back but Naruto simply pulled up for the three point sho and knocked it down.
His phenomenal scoring continued when he grabbed a rebound and took it coast to coast for a left handed layup.
"And Naruto Uzumaki putting in work! He's got thirty eight points."
The point guard winced as he ran up the court as the pain in his ankle returned. He didn't have time to think about it as Jimmy got another steal and threw the ball his way.
The rookie caught it and took off full speed towards the rim. Howard was the only man in front of him and Naruto did a simple euro step to avoid the seven foot problem.
When he went into the air he used his body to keep the ball away from Howard before using his left hand to lay the ball in.
The moment Naruto hit the ground he felt immense pain in his ankle and immediately dropped to the ground.
He head whistles as his teammates quickly surrounded him as he withered in pain.
"This is not good. Naruto has been nearly unstoppable tonight and now he's down. This is catastrophic for this Lakers not even a full game into the post season."
And Done!
Sorry this took so long, hope y'all enjoyed Naruto's first playoff game.
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PS, reviews actually encourage me to make chapters so yeah keep those coming.
Duces!