Change in Los Angeles Lakers Team
The Los Angeles Lakers team would start this game with the starting players Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Corie Blount playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.
The San Antonio Spurs team would start this game with the starting players Avery Johnson playing as PG, Mario Elie playing as SG, Sean Elliott playing as SF, Tim Duncan playing as PF, and David Robinson playing as Center.
The game started with the Los Angeles Lakers team pressing in the attack and the San Antonio Spurs team pressing in the defense, the Los Angeles Lakers team got the first ball possession and Jake advanced for the attack.
Jake came forward and passed the ball to Kobe Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Mario Elie came to press on defense, Bryant did not try to make the individual move and passed the ball to Rick Fox on the left.
Fox received the ball and Sean Elliott came to press on defense, Fox held the ball a little and passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Avery Johnson pressed on defense, Johnson knew he couldn't defend well against Jake, so he could at least press on defense to try to hinder Jake in that game.
Jake tricked Johnson with a feint and passed him using his speed, Jake kept advancing towards the inside, Elie tried to defend and Jake passed the ball to Bryant from the right, Kobe Bryant was free and tried the mid-range shot to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
The San Antonio Spurs team defended very well, so Jake had to do more than just pass the ball in a few moves if he wanted to help his team win, then the San Antonio Spurs team went on the attack to tie the game.
Johnson advanced with the ball and passed it to Elie on the left, Elie received the ball and Kobe Bryant came to press on defense, Elie held the ball for a while and passed it to Elliott on the right.
Elliott received the ball and Fox came to press on defense, Rick Fox was happy that he was playing longer this season and was having good performance with Jake helping him make great assists.
With Jake, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal drawing the attention of the defense he had much more freedom to attack, Elliott tried the feint, but Fox was not fooled, so Elliott passed the ball to Tim Duncan on the left.
Duncan received the ball and Corie Blount arrived to press in defense, Duncan made a dream shake and tricked Blount, so Duncan just turned and hooked to make 2 points and tie the game.
Jake didn't understand why Coach Harris decided to put Corie Blount in that game and the team had gotten used to playing with Travis Knight on the team, after all, Jake didn't think it was even good to give Blount an opportunity to play in a game he would play against Tim Duncan.
The Los Angeles Lakers team continued to press in the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Elliott arrived pressing in defense, Fox still held the ball a little before passing to Kobe Bryant on the right.
Bryant received the ball and Elie came in the defense, Bryant held the ball and passed it to Jake further back, Jake saw that Fox was freer and passed the ball to him, Fox was out of the three-point line and decided to try the shot from outside and made 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
In another attacking move by the San Antonio Spurs team, Johnson forwarded the ball into the attack, Johnson passed the ball to Elliott on the right, Fox pressed on the defense and Elliott still held the ball before passing it on to Elie on the left.
Elie received the ball and Bryant was on the defense, Elie decided to try an individual play and tried a feint to deceive Bryant, Bryant was not fooled, so Elie tried a quick crossover and managed to move through the middle.
Elie managed to advance and Fox came to help the defense, Elie realized this and tried to pass it to Elliott on the right, but Jake realized this move and anticipated and managed to intercept the pass making the steal.
Jake advanced with the ball quickly and only Johnson and Elie managed to get back to defend before Jake advanced, Jake advanced and passed Elie using his speed and Elie was unable to keep up.
So only Johnson was the last player in the defense of the San Antonio Spurs team, Jake continued to advance at high speed and approaching Johnson he tried a quick crossover and Johnson was out of balance.
So Jake managed to advance on the left, but Johnson did not want Jake to make the points and still tried to defend, so Jake made a spin, and Johnson couldn't keep up, so Jake tried to make a dunk and Elie who had recovered tried to make the block.
But Jake managed to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team and Elie only managed to make a foul on Jake, the crowd of the Los Angeles Lakers team celebrated this play a lot, Jake was a player who almost never made fouls and also hardly suffered fouls.
After all Jake tried most of his moves after getting rid of the opposing player who defended against him or he tried three-point shots and the players in the defense knew that if they tried the block and missed they would give Jake 3 free throw attempts.
So Jake had a chance to score 1 more point and hit the free throw and scored 1 more point for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake had almost 100 percent use in free throws, so the opponents preferred not to miss him.
The first quarter ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a good point advantage, with Jake the Los Angeles Lakers team was very strong in the outside shots and got several steals which greatly improved their defense and made things difficult for opposing teams.
In that first quarter, Jake played for 12 minutes and scored 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals, it was a good first quarter for Jake who managed to help his teammates score and also scored a few points.
"The first quarter ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team is ahead on the scoreboard, the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team are playing very well and even with the players of the San Antonio Spurs team also playing well, the home team has the advantage."
"Yes, in the last games of this season it has been like that, the players of the San Antonio Spurs team have a good game, but the San Antonio Spurs team cannot win most games."
"Maybe that's the problem, some of the big teams lose when some players perform poorly if a team like the Los Angeles Lakers team has some players playing badly they lose, but if all the players are playing well the team wins."
"So maybe the San Antonio Spurs team is not a team with such good players this season, so even if they play very well they end up losing games."
"That may be, we will continue to monitor this game to see if the Los Angeles Lakers team wins."
Jake would laugh if he heard what the commentators were saying, he also didn't know why the San Antonio Spurs team performed so poorly at the beginning of the season, but he knew they had a team with good players who played very well and so they managed to win that season's NBA title in Jake's past life.
For the second quarter, the San Antonio Spurs team wanted to put more pressure on the attack and keep pressing on defense, the two teams did not plan to replace the main players for a long time and so it would be a more disputed game between the teams.
The San Antonio Spurs team went for another attack and Johnson was organizing the play, Johnson advanced to the attack and passed the ball to Elie from the left, Elie received the ball and Bryant soon pressed in defense.
So Elie decided to pass the ball back to Johnson again, Johnson received the ball and Jake was close to him defending, so Johnson decided to pass the ball to Elliott on the right.
Elliott received the ball and Fox soon came to the defense, Elliott made a feint and managed to deceive Fox and tried the mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team, Elliott and Duncan were playing well in that game and taking advantage of the weakness of Blount and Fox's defense.
The Los Angeles Lakers team soon went on the attack as well, Jake advanced the ball and passed it to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Elie came to press on defense, Bryant tried a feint, but Elie was not fooled.
Thus Bryant passed the ball to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Elliott pressed in defense, so Fox passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal further ahead.
Shaquille O'Neal was having more difficulty in this game because sometimes David Robinson and Tim Duncan double-teamed when he had the ball and it was very difficult for O'Neal to score.
In this play Jake passed the ball when Duncan was further away from him and so O'Neal received the ball and used his strength to move closer to the hoop, Robinson was on defense, but he could not stop O'Neal's advance, so O'Neal tried the hook to score 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
In that second quarter, the San Antonio Spurs team tried to put pressure on the attack and defense, but the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack was very strong and even if they couldn't hold on well in defense they still managed to increase the advantage in points.
In another play by the San Antonio Spurs team, Johnson advanced the ball and passed it to Elliott on the right, Fox arrived pressing in defense so Elliott did not have space to make the move.
Elliot still tried to feint and outwit Fox, but Fox was not deceived and remained steady in defense, so Elliott passed the ball to Robinson later on, Robinson received the ball and O'Neal was pushing in defense.
Robinson tried to hook and ended up missing, Duncan was quick and got the rebound and made the dunk to make 2 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team, the biggest strength of the San Antonio Spurs team was having two great post players who played in the paint area.
So they were more likely to catch rebounds and teams that had only one Center or a better PF suffered playing against the San Antonio Spurs team, and those who had none of these quality players suffered even more.
In another move the Los Angeles Lakers team was on the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Fox on the left, Elliott came to press on defense, Fox held the ball and passed it to Bryant on the right.
Kobe Bryant received the ball and passed it to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Johnson soon pressed in the defense, Jake tried a feint and managed to get rid of the defense, Jake did not try to advance and tried the shot from outside and made 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team maintaining the advantage on the scoreboard, in that second quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake performed well and helped the Los Angeles team Lakers to stay ahead in the second quarter.
"What a good second quarter we had in that game, the San Antonio Spurs team really tried to recover in the game, the players defended well and attacked well, but they only managed to prevent the Los Angeles Lakers team from increasing their points advantage."
"That's right, the Los Angeles Lakers team is having a very strong attack after Jake Smith's arrival, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant have more freedom to play and with Jake Smith making the assists they have been playing even better."
"Jake Smith is really doing a great rookie season so far, I don't think we've ever seen a rookie start so well in the NBA, so the Los Angeles Lakers team really have a chance of winning the NBA title this season."
"I agree with that, last season we had Tim Duncan doing an excellent debut season and this season Tim Duncan is already one of the main players in the NBA, now we have Jake Smith this season."
With coach Harris deciding not to make substitutions during the game, the San Antonio Spurs team did not have much hope of recovering in the game, but they were really playing well as in the last few games.
Kobe Bryant had also realized this after the conversation he had with Jake, if the San Antonio Spurs team learned to use Tim Duncan and David Robinson better in the attack they could certainly play even better and the Los Angeles Lakers defense couldn't stop them.
The third quarter started and the Los Angeles Lakers team still pressing in the attack, as the defense of the Lakers team was not so strong, attacking was their way of maintaining the advantage in the game, Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Bryant on the right.
Kobe Bryant received the ball and tried a feint and managed to trick Elie, Bryant advanced to the paint area and drive to the basket making 2 more points with a layup, Kobe Bryant was playing well in that game and as he was passing the ball more, his individual moves were more unpredictable.
The San Antonio Spurs team did not give up and still wanted to win that game, Johnson advanced with the ball and Jake was on defense, with the steals that Jake made in that game and did in other games Johnson and the other players of the San Antonio Spurs team were worried every time they had to pass the ball.
With that they lost several chances of attacks that they would normally do, and even so Jake still managed to make some steals in all quarters, Johnson passed the ball to Elie from the left.
Elie received the ball and Bryant came to press on defense, so Elie held the ball and passed it to Duncan further on, Duncan was the best player on the San Antonio Spurs team and many attack plays were with him.
Duncan received the ball and made the spin and so he got rid of Blount's defense and advanced to the paint area, O'Neal saw that Duncan was going to make a layup and went to try to stop Duncan, Duncan saw O'Neal coming and passed the ball to Robinson who received the ball and scored 2 more points with a dunk for the San Antonio Spurs team.
The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team managing to slightly increase their points advantage, Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.
In the last quarter of the game the San Antonio Spurs team still tried to win, but at the end of the game the Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 118 points against 90 points for the San Antonio Spurs team.
In that last quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and made 8 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake made another triple-double in that game, his fifth triple-double in his debut season.
"The game is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team wins their eighth game this season, really the Los Angeles Lakers team is one of the teams that have the most victories this season, and with this game, the San Antonio Spurs team has 5 losses this season."
"Yes, the San Antonio Spurs team played well in that game with Tim Duncan and Sean Elliot being the best players, but it seems that something is missing for them to be able to start winning more games and it is good that they find what is missing soon or they will be out of the playoffs this reduced season."
"That's right, the Los Angeles Lakers team is really doing well this season, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are playing very well in every game and Rick Fox has also been important in the games and is managing to score more than 12 points in almost All the games."
"But surely the highlight of this game and of the Los Angeles Lakers team this season is certainly Jake Smith, in this game he got another triple-double, he got 5 triple-double in 9 games and he also has another 2 double-doubles."
"With such a performance I have to say that we can no longer see Jake Smith as a rookie but as one of this season's MVP candidates, Jake Smith played 9 games this season and played 48 minutes in every game."
"In these 9 games Jake Smith has a Field Goal Percentage average of 81 percent, and in the 3-Point Field Goal Percentage the average is 80 percent, this is something incredible even for the best players in NBA history in shooting three points."
"Jake Smith still has an average of 32 points per game and 12 assists per game, any of those statistics would be enough for Jake Smith to be one of the MVP candidates of the season and Jake Smith has them all."
"I also agree, if Jake Smith continues to play like that and the Los Angeles Lakers team advance into the playoffs, I think it's quite possible that Jake Smith will even be chosen as the MVP of the season."
The commentators were excited after seeing Jake's first games of the season, they used to wonder if Jake could be the best rookie of the season and now they were wondering if he could be the best player of the season.
It was also noteworthy to see the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team at the Great Western Forum, with the passing of the games of this season more fans began to bring posters with the name of Jake and his nickname of Captain America.
It showed how Jake was becoming one of the Los Angeles Lakers fans' idols after only 9 games on the team, that was because Jake was playing very well and because the fans wanted to see the Los Angeles Lakers team win the NBA title again and they could see that Jake could help the team achieve that.
After that great game, the players went home happy, the Los Angeles Lakers team had lost just 1 game this season and the team played well in all games, so the players knew it would stay that way throughout the season.
The next game for the Los Angeles Lakers team would be in two days so players would have one day to rest before the next game, but as it was a game in which they would be the visitors the team would travel the next day.
Jake could return to Los Angeles just the day before the Grammy where he had to attend to support Kate, he was still sad that he couldn't go to the Grammy to cheer for Kate and had to attend at home.
Only when he was most upset about not going to the Grammys did he receive an unexpected call, Keanu Reeves who had become friends with him in the filming of the movie The Matrix called him, Jake was happy and surprised by Keanu's call.
"Hi, Jake, how are you?"
"I'm fine Keanu, we haven't spoken for a few months already, I wanted to call you, but I didn't want to disturb you."
"You can call me whenever you want, Jake, congratulations on your excellent performance in the first games of your NBA debut season, when I saw that you wanted to become an actor I thought you didn't play that well Hahaha."
"But from what I'm seeing in the media, you're the best rookie and can become an MVP candidate of the season, it really surprised me."
"I am also happy with my performance and with the Los Angeles Lakers team if we continue this way we can win this season's NBA title."
"That would be really amazing, what are you waiting for next month's premiere of our film?"
"I think it will be a huge success, the film is really good and it is an innovative film in action scenes and special effects, it will certainly be a worldwide success and you will be one of the best actors in action films."
"I also hope that the film will be a great success, you know that I am a big fan of science fiction and I liked this film since I first read the script, I also thought that the work of the Wachowskis directors is brilliant and the Yuen Woo-ping's work was also amazing."
"I know that I really think it will be a success, we are going to have some more sequences of this film yet and you can participate in more films like this."
It was difficult for Jake whenever he had to talk about the future because he knew what would happen so he had to try to say things without showing too much certainty in what he was talking about, he knew the film would be a success that Keanu Reeves would be one of the greatest actors in action films in the future.
"Jake, I know you like music a lot and you are here in Los Angeles now playing basketball, so I got some tickets to go to the Grammy that will happen in a few days, but I won't be able to go."
"I heard that you have a friend who is going to be competing for one of the prizes and wanted to know if you accepted a ticket."
Jake was really surprised to hear Keanu talking about it, he really talked to Keanu about music and talked about Kate too, of course, he said he was her friend which was not a lie because at that time they were still friends.
Jake talked more about music because he knew that Keanu once had a band and also liked music, but now it seemed that the great luck he was having was helping him get a Grammy ticket.
"I do want to, actually I really wanted to go to the Grammys, but because of the games I was unable to organize myself to get a ticket."
"Great, I'll send the ticket to your home, see you after the movie opens."
Jake was very happy to receive a ticket to go to the Grammy, he could go and if someone asked how he got the ticket he could say that he had won the ticket from Keanu Reeves.
The best thing was that it was not an ordinary ticket and Jake could sit together with the guests, so he could see and close if Kate won the prize as he expected, it would be difficult because the Los Angeles Lakers team would have a game the next day as a visitor and Jake would have to travel after the Grammy to go to the city where the team would play.
Jake can sleep soundly after learning that he could go to the Grammys, the next day the players would have a day of rest, the Los Angeles Lakers team would still do light training, but they would be fine for the next game the next day.
Jake started the day excited after the good news and he decided to call Kate to tell her about the good news, he thought about making a good surprise for her by appearing at the Grammy without warning before.
But he thought Kate might be too surprised and look at him many times during the awards or try to ignore him which would make everyone even more certain that they had a type of relationship.
Kate was happy and surprised to learn that Jake was going to the Grammys, Lily prevented Jack from going to the Grammies with her and had not forbidden Jake to attend the Grammys, with Jake winning the ticket it was even better.
Jake chatted for a while with Kate and then had to go to training with the Los Angeles Lakers team, training that day was light for players not to get too tired, players talked normally and there was no dispute between players.
The only thing that made the situation more complicated was that it was increasingly noticeable that coach Del Harris could be fired if it were like in the past when the team was losing several games and losing a sequence of games it would be understandable.
But thanks to Jake being on the team the situation was different and the team had lost just one game this season, it was no secret that Coach Harris had problems with some players and had problems with the team's board.
But it was hard to fire someone when the team was winning a lot of games and the board didn't have any better coach to put in place of Del Harris, the truth was that Del Harris was a good coach who helped the Los Angeles Lakers team to improve a lot in the last few seasons.
The biggest problem was that the Los Angeles Lakers team board was demanding and after hiring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal they naturally expected the team to win an NBA title again.
And Del Harris has not managed to get far in the playoffs of the last few seasons, so the board decided that Coach Harris would not agree to exchange Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, and Derek Harper for the rookie Jack Smith.
Fortunately, this exchange had worked out and the Los Angeles Lakers team started this season well, and the board decided that to win the NBA title, the Los Angeles Lakers team needed a new coach.
If Jake didn't know that next season the Los Angeles Lakers team would hire Phil Jackson, he could say that it was better if Coach Del Harris remained on the team, if Coach Del Harris continued and the Los Angeles Lakers team won the NBA title it was impossible that Coach Harris was fired.
And Jake was not confident that with coach Harris and him on the team they could still win the NBA title in the next three seasons as the Los Angeles Lakers team did with Phil Jackson.
After training the players went on the Los Angeles Lakers private plane to Seattle, Washington where they would face the next opponent the next day, with the team traveling the day before they would less tired for the game.
The players went to a hotel that the team had prepared and would wait there until they had to go to the place of the game, the next day came the next game for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the players went to the KeyArena and saw the cheers from the Seattle SuperSonics team excited about the game.
The Seattle SuperSonics team was the team of one of the players who was Jake's idol, that player was naturally Gary Payton, even though Gary Payton did not achieve as many achievements as Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, John Stockton, Steve Nash, and other great PGs, he was one of Jake's references.
Especially in the defensive game of Payton that Jake was very inspired and the characteristic of being able to play many games and many minutes in all games, Jake respected Payton even more because he achieved this with the help of the system and Payton had only his natural talent.
This would be the second game that Jake would play against one of the great PG he respected, of course, he also played against John Stockton, but in that game, Jake was playing as SF and cannot defend directly against John Stockton.
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another great game this NBA season, in this game we have the Seattle SuperSonics team playing at home today, they started the season well with 6 wins in 8 games."
"The Seattle SuperSonics team has great player Gary Payton and also Detlef Schrempf and Vin Baker who are all-stars, so it's a good team that struggles to make it to the playoffs this season."
"And we also have the Los Angeles Lakers team that has had an excellent start to the season so far with 8 wins in 9 games, the Los Angeles Lakers team has all-stars Shaquille O'Neal who has been the most important player and young Kobe Bryant."
"And we also have rookie Jake Smith, with an average of over 32 points and 12 assists per game Jake Smith is certainly the best NBA PG at the beginning of the season, he can even fight to be the MVP of the season if he continues playing like that."
"This game will be a challenge for Jake Smith who will play against the great PG Gary Payton who managed to defend well even against Michael Jordan, if Jake Smith still plays well in that game, he will be considered an excellent player."
Just as commentators said this was a big challenge for Jake, Gary Payton was still playing at a high level and was really great at defending, Jake managed to play well playing against Scottie Pippen defending against him, if he got it in that game again he would be really recognized as an excellent player.
Coach Harris trusted Jake and asked him to play as he had been doing in the last few games, so Jake would pass the ball and score normally, Jake was excited about this challenge to play against Payton, but he would not hinder the team by because of that.
Jake saw Payton as a player with SS rank in some defensive skills as well as players in his imagination training, the difference was that Payton was much more intelligent and would make the moves in the best possible way.
The Los Angeles Lakers team would start the game with Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Travis Knight playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.
The Seattle SuperSonics team would start the game with Gary Payton playing as PG, Hersey Hawkins playing as SG, Detlef Schrempf playing as SF, Vin Baker playing as PF, and Olden Polynice playing as Center.
Even though the duel between Jake and Payton was perhaps the most important issue in this game, the most important player for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win was Shaquille O'Neal and the team also needed Kobe Bryant.
Vin Baker was a skilled PF and Olden Polynice played well as Center, but in that game, Shaquille O'Neal could play more smoothly and the defense would not bother him as it did in other previous games.
In that game Coach Harris decided not to take any chances and put Travis Knight on to play again, Jake thought that this would be a difficult game in which the Los Angeles Lakers team lost in his past life.
And the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team played well in that defeat, what happened was that the players of the Seattle SuperSonics team played even better, in this game Jake was confident to change that and bring victory to the Los Angeles Lakers team in that game.
The game started with the Seattle SuperSonics team pressing in the attack, Gary Payton advanced the ball and passed to Hersey Hawkins on the left, Hawkins received the ball and Kobe Bryant came to press on defense.
Hawkins held the ball and passed it to Detlef Schrempf on the right, Schrempf received the ball and Fox came to press on defense, Schrempf tried a feint and managed to fool Fox and advanced into the area and tried a mid-range shot and made the first 2 points for the Seattle SuperSonics team.
Jake was skilled in defense, but what he was best at was steals and intercepting in defense, if the opponent tried to get past him using the force he would also defend well, but in a game like this if Payton tried to get past him using the skill would be difficult for Jake to defend.
So in this game Jake would not try to make so many steals by intercepting the ball and would concentrate only on defending against Gary Payton, only then would he be able to defend better and hinder Payton in some plays.
Jake picked up the ball and started organizing the Los Angeles Lakers team's first attack in the game, Jake went forward with the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Hawkins came to press on defense.
Bryant held the ball and managed to get rid of the defense and advanced into the area, Bryant advanced and Olden Polynice came to defend against him, Bryant was smart and passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal who made the first 2 points for the Los team Angeles Lakers with a layup.
Polynice and the other Seattle SuperSonics defense players did not expect Kobe Bryant to pass the ball and his good move ended up making the Los Angeles Lakers tie the game.
After Jake spoke to Kobe Bryant, he started to think things over and agreed to a little with most of the things Jake had said, of course, some of the mistakes Jake said he had Bryant didn't want to admit he had because of pride his as a player.
Kobe Bryant heard some advice from Jake because he realized that Jake had said all that with the intention of helping him to improve as a player, but he wasn't going to change that quickly.
Of course, Jake didn't expect that when he said what he knew, Jake was just trying to get Kobe Bryant to understand what would make him one of the best players in the NBA when he got older and realized these mistakes alone.
Jake was a fan of Kobe Bryant and could only imagine how he could be an excellent player if he had his maturity and experience when he was at his peak while Kobe Bryant was still in peak physical condition.
In another move Payton started another attack for the Seattle SuperSonics team, Payton advanced with the ball, and Jake arrived to press in defense before Payton reached the three-point line.
Jake was determined to defend Payton as he never did before playing with another player, Payton did not want to try the individual move and passed the ball to Schrempf on the right, Schrempf received the ball and Fox came to press.
Schrempf tried another feint, but Fox was attentive and was not fooled, so Schrempf decided to pass the ball to Hawkins on the left, Hawkins received the ball and Kobe Bryant soon arrived to press in defense.
Hawkins held the ball for a while and then passed the ball to Vin Baker ahead, Baker received the ball and Travis Knight soon came to press on the defense, Baker tried a feint and soon after made a spin and managed to get rid of the defense and advanced to layup and 2 more points for the Seattle SuperSonics team.
The Seattle SuperSonics team was managing to press well in attack and playing well in defense leaving the game much more balanced than everyone expected, many hoped that perhaps the Los Angeles Lakers team could lose this game.
The Los Angeles Lakers team went on the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and Payton came to defend against him, Jake was concerned with defending against Payton and Payton was also concerned with defending against Jake who had an average of over 30 points per game.
The two had already made some points in that first quarter, but they were careful with each other while attacking, Jake moved forward and passed the ball to Fox from the left, Fox received the ball and Schrempf soon arrived to press in defense.
Fox held the ball and soon passed it to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and wondered if he would make any individual moves, Hawkins also pressed in defense and Bryant decided to pass the ball to Jake further back.
Jake held the ball and Payton soon approached to press in defense, Jake made a quick feint and then did a step back, Payton was distracted by Jake's feint and so Jack managed to try a shot from outside and score 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
The Seattle SuperSonics team ended the first quarter by winning the game with an advantage of just 1 point against the Los Angeles Lakers team, it was a really balanced game in which the two teams were still trying to analyze the opponent.
In that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal, Jake was having to work harder to score and defend, but he still managed to play well in that first quarter against Gary Payton.
"What a great first quarter we had in that game, a game so far balanced and the Seattle SuperSonics team is winning by just 1 point, but this was one of the few times that the Los Angeles Lakers team lost on points in a quarter."
"The Seattle SuperSonics team is really doing well this season, it's a team with great players and they can perform well in games, with Gary Payton leading the team and the other star Vin Baker that team can make it to the playoffs."
"That's right, it's a team with great players, four players who have been NBA all-stars in the past and that shows their quality, and with the Seattle SuperSonics team playing at home I think they can win this game."
"Yes, but the Los Angeles Lakers team also played very well in that first quarter, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Jake Smith, and Rick Fox did well in attack and they are the best attack of this season, so they can still win this game."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team lost just one game this season and I think they can still win that game, the most important thing is that Jake Smith is still managing to play well even with Gary Payton defending against him."
"Yes, Jake Smith was defending well against Gary Payton too, the two players respect each other and I think that in the next quarters of the game this dispute will be even more intense."
"It's still amazing how well Jake Smith still plays with even one of the best defensive players in the NBA Gary Payton, we will continue to follow this game to see what happens."
The second quarter started with the Los Angeles Lakers team putting pressure on the attack, they wanted the victory in this game more and could use the strong attack of the players to try to put pressure on the Seattle SuperSonics team.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Schrempf arrived pressing in defense, Fox held the ball and passed to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Payton arrived in defense attentive to prevent Jake from doing any move.
Jake passed the ball to Kobe Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Hawkins came to press on defense, Bryant received the ball and made a feint and moved away, Bryant made the between the legs dribble move and Hawkins was unable to get close.
So Bryant made a feint and attempted the mid-range shot and made 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, a compliment that the Los Angeles Lakers team received was that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were making fewer mistakes and had an average of Field Goal Percentage higher after Jake joined the team.
Before it was normal for them to have more than 18 Field Goal Attempts per game and to have less than 50 percent correctness, that was normal for many teams, in fact, so Shaquille O'Neal was several times first in the Field Goal Percentage with little more than 50 percent.
That changed after Jake's arrival and he got an average of 80 percent in the Field Goal Percentage himself, so for every 10 attempts, Jake made the points he hit 8 of them even though he averaged more than 30 points per game, so Jake was surprised so much.
The Seattle SuperSonics team went on the attack shortly thereafter, Payton advanced the ball and passed it to Schrempf on the right, Schrempf received the ball and Fox arrived to press on defense, so Schrempf decided to pass the ball to Payton again.
Payton received the ball and Jake arrived to press in defense, Payton tried a feint to deceive Jake, but Jake was not deceived and continued watching Payton, Payton tried to advance using speed, but Jake continued to press in defense and did not let Payton advance.
With the possession time gone Payton tried the mid-range shot and ended up missing and Kobe Bryant got the rebound, in another dispute between Jake and Gary Payton, Jake showed that he also knew how to defend well.
Bryant advanced with the ball and passed to Jake further back after passing from the middle of the court, this game was well balanced and therefore Jake could not keep the game pace as slow as he liked and the Los Angeles Lakers team had to press on the attack to try to win the game.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Schrempf arrived pressing on defense, Fox held the ball and soon passed to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Hawkins arrived pressing on defense.
So Bryant passed the ball to Jake further back who tried a feint against Payton, Payton was not fooled and kept pressing in defense, Jake made another quick feint and then advanced using his speed.
Payton reacted quickly, but Jake was even faster and Payton could not keep up, Schrempf approached to do the double-team defense together with Payton, Jake realized this and passed the ball to Fox on the left.
Fox who was free tried the mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake had a very high basketball IQ and could always analyze the play and the position of all the players on the court.
This could be a consequence of his high intelligence statistics, Jake once asked the system why Basketball IQ did not appear on his statistics list and the system said it was because Basketball IQ was something that was not possible to measure.
It was almost like intelligence, but intelligence was something that the system could measure using all humans as a reference, but for basketball, only players had it, and even among the best players Basketball IQ was different.
Payton was having a hard time defending against Jake who was smart, fast, strong, and didn't try many moves going to layup or dunk, most of the points that Jake often made were three-point shots and Payton had a harder time defending against such a player.
In another move the Seattle SuperSonics team went on the attack, Payton advanced with the ball and passed it to Schrempf on the right, Schrempf received the ball and Fox arrived to press on defense, Schrempf passed the ball to Polynice later on.
Polynice received the ball and O'Neal came pressing on the defense, Polynice tried a strong shot, but O'Neal remained firm in defense, so Polynice made a feint and moved away from O'Neal and tried the mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the Seattle SuperSonics team.
The second quarter ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to recover and ended the second quarter by winning by 2 points, Jake played for 12 minutes and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.
"The second quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to recover in the game and are now winning by 2 points, the two teams remain balanced and the two teams are playing very well."
"Yes, maybe this is the most difficult game that the Los Angeles Lakers team had this season, they lost a game, but it was because Shaquille O'Neal wasn't playing, now they have the full team and they're still having a hard time on the scoreboard."
"Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are playing very well as they have done throughout this season, Rick Fox is also performing well and mainly Jake Smith is playing very well."
"Yes, even though he's doing fewer steals in that game, Jake Smith is focusing on defending against Gary Payton who is one of the best PG the NBA has today."
"Jake Smith is still playing as well as in other games this season, and he is defending very well against Gary Payton who is having a hard time making the shots and missed many mid-range shots in that game."
In the third quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team continued to push forward, in a game like this, Coach Harris did not think of replacing the main players of the team for a long time and only replaced when O'Neal, Bryant and the others were tired.
The coach of the Seattle SuperSonics team also did not think about replacing the players, this made the dispute between Jake and Payton even more interesting since Jake always played in the 48th minute and Payton also endured playing for a long time.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Schrempf arrived pressing on the defense, so Fox passed the ball to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and held it for a while before passing it to Jake further back.
Jake received the ball and Payton already started to press in the defense not giving Jake room to try another move, so Jake tried a feint and Payton was not fooled, Jake saw an opportunity and made a high pass to Shaquille O'Neal who took the ball at the top and did a dunk completing the alley-oop and making 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
In another move the Seattle SuperSonics team went on the attack, Gary Payton charged the ball forward and Jake came to press on defense, Payton did not attempt the individual move and passed the ball to Hawkins on the left.
Hawkins received the ball and Kobe Bryant came to press on defense, Hawkins tried a feint, but failed to trick Bryant who was firm in defense, so Hawkins passed the ball to Payton further back.
Payton received the ball and tried a feint to deceive Jake, but Jake was not deceived and continued in defense, so Payton tried to advance and Jake pressed further in defense, so Payton did a quick step back and tried the mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the Seattle SuperSonics team.
Payton was quick and Jake was unable to react, but Payton still tried to shoot the mid-range shot, Payton also tried several shots from outside that he missed, luckily his teammates managed to get some rebounds and so the game was still balanced.
The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a 6 point advantage, Jake played for 12 minutes in the third quarter and had 8 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound.
The three-point shots Jake was able to hit were helping the Los Angeles Lakers team to increase their points advantage in the game, but in defense, he was concentrating so hard to defend against Payton that he was unable to make any steal in that quarter.
Payton's attacking moves were so good that Jake remembered when he played one-on-one against Kobe Bryant, of course, Payton was not a player with offensive skills as good as Kobe Bryant, but in a multiplayer game, Payton was making it much harder for Jake to defend.
"The third quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to win and managed to increase the points advantage, Jake Smith continues to play very well and this is being fundamental for the Los Angeles Lakers team to achieve this advantage in points."
"Even with Gary Payton's good defense, Jake Smith has already scored 27 points in that game, and the opposite is also true because Gary Payton has managed to score 15 points in that game, the difference being that Jake Smith missed fewer attacks and can make more passes also."
"Yes, we can see in this game that the two are excellent players and are very good in defense, of course, Gary Payton is a player with more than 8 years of experience in the NBA, 5 times an All-star player and was the defensive player of the year in 1996."
"And Jake is a rookie player who debuted this season in the NBA, so it's amazing what Jake Smith is doing to attack well even with Gary Payton defending against him and him managing to defend well against Gary Payton."
In the last quarter, the Seattle SuperSonics team started to press both in attack and defense, they wanted to take advantage of playing at home to try to win, Payton advanced with the ball and passed to Schrempf on the right.
In the expected duel between Jake and Gary Payton what happened was that the two were more intelligent and tried to score the points avoiding the opponent to defend, Payton didn't do it so well because Jake pressed hard on the attacks and Payton tried several times the layup and the mid-range shooting what was his style of playing.
Jake didn't need this because his style of play was to try three-point shots, and Payton wasn't able to hinder Jake in three-point shots, so Jake was able to attack well, Payton also had to be more careful when making passes because Jake was very good at steals.
Jake managed to make assists with difficulty, but he did even better than Payton in that game, yet whoever was watching this game could see that Jake was playing very well against Payton and it showed that even though he was a rookie he was already one of the best NBA players.
The last quarter ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team got the win by making 100 points against 88 points from the Seattle SuperSonics team, in that last quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal.
"Another NBA game ends this season, the Los Angeles Lakers team won another victory in this difficult and balanced game, the Seattle SuperSonics team played very well in that game and all the players performed well."
"All the starting players scored at least 10 points in that game and Gary Payton scored 22 points even though Jake Smith was defending so well against him, but the Seattle SuperSonics defense was unable to stop the strongest attack this season in the NBA and Team Los Angeles Lakers still won."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team also played an excellent game, all the players performed well, but unlike the Seattle SuperSonics team, the focus on the attack was Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, and Jake Smith."
"Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant played an excellent game, Rick Fox has also been surprising and making more than 14 points in the last games, and Jake Smith was once again the highlight of the game."
"Jake Smith played very well in that game and managed to score 35 points and 9 assists even with Gary Payton defending against him, Jake Smith showed all his skill in that game and also defended well against Gary Payton and made him miss many attacks."
"Yes, Jake Smith played that game really well, even though it looks like he got fewer steals and rebounds than in other games, that's normal thinking that Gary Payton was defending against him."
"Jake Smith had the advantage in that game because of his three-point shots that helped the Los Angeles Lakers team to win and also play better than Gary Payton, but that is also his credit for training for so long to get that average hits on three-point shots."
The game ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning once again, Jake was happy because he knew that in the past the Los Angeles Lakers team had lost that game, now he wanted to win as many games as he could this season.
Jake thought that when he entered the NBA he was very good at defense after training for several years in his imagination training and playing at university, but in that game, he realized again that he was still far from being a great player in defense.
Jake had already realized this when he played against Kobe Bryant, even though he could defend well and prevent the opponent from making some points, he couldn't really prevent the opponent from making points in mid-range shots.
Of course, Jake knew it must be natural, after all, Kobe Bryant and Gary Payton were two of the best players in NBA history and Jake was just a rookie in the NBA, but what made Jake think so was his system and physical statistics that it was what helped him most to get the steals in the games.
But this game was important for Jake to realize that he still had a lot of things that he needed to improve in order to be a great player, Jake still had to improve his skills and statistics and also play better when he got more experience.
After all Jake knew that even when he had all the skills in the SS rank he would just be on a par with the best NBA players, so he still needed to improve a lot to be able to beat them.
After that victory, the Los Angeles Lakers team had a lot of time to rest because they would have to travel to Denver, Colorado where they would have to play the next game.
It would be the second game of the Los Angeles Lakers team in Denver, Colorado to play against the Denver Nuggets team the second game as a visitor, the first game was very difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win and Jake was the main responsible for the good advantage on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
But in that game Jake did not know if things would be like this again, the rumors of the possible dismissal of Coach Del Harris just increased and so Coach Harris did not seem to be very happy with this situation.
The players made the trip on the team plane during the night and when they arrived in Denver they immediately went to the hotel to rest for the game the next day, the players were not so tired because they were able to rest a few minutes in the last games with the substitutions of Harris coach.
So the next day Jake woke up completely rested and ready for the next game, that day the players heard two rumors that could be good things, but one of that news could be bad for the team.
One news that was certainly good was that Robert Horry was recovering well and maybe in 3 more days he could play again, the Los Angeles Lakers team was missing Horry in the team's defense and also in the attack.
The other news was that maybe the Los Angeles Lakers team could sign 5-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman in the next few days, Jake knew it could happen, so he naturally also knew what could happen in the future.
Jake naturally respected Dennis Rodman, who was an important player in the 5 NBA titles he won, but his personal behavior was something Jake did not agree with and even found it difficult to understand.
Jake played professional basketball and still ran marathons because he loved doing it and didn't mind trying harder to do it, but Dennis Rodman, who also said he loved basketball even with his talent, still did a lot of things wrong.
Jake thought that Dennis Rodman could actually be an important player for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win the NBA title this season if he played seriously and worked hard in every game to win he could help a lot.
Dennis Rodman was a type of player who got a lot of rebounds and defended well and didn't score many points in games, but with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, and Jake Smith on the team they didn't need anyone else who could score.
What the Los Angeles Lakers team needed was a good defensive player, and Dennis Rodman was the type of player the Los Angeles Lakers team needed, in addition to Jake, other players were also concerned about having Dennis Rodman on the team.
But in the afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the game to try another victory, arriving at the McNichols Sports Arena Jake can see the Denver Nuggets team crowd filling the Arena.
Jake and the players put on their uniforms in the locker rooms and went to the court to get ready for the start of the game, the Denver Nuggets team needed this victory and they were determined to achieve that victory.
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another game of the NBA this season, the second game this season between the Los Angeles Lakers team and the Denver Nuggets team, in the first game the Los Angeles Lakers team won."
"And the Los Angeles Lakers team is a favorite to win this game too, the Denver Nuggets team that plays at home today had just 1 win this season and they have already had 8 losses, this is certainly irritating their fans."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team already has 9 wins in 10 games and they want to get another victory in that game, if Jake Smith and the other players were playing well it wouldn't be difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win again."
"Yes, Jake Smith has been playing very well in the last few games, but Shaquille O'Neal has managed to make almost 1 double-double in every game and Kobe Bryant has also been helping to lead the team to victory."
Everyone in the sports media and fans also hoped that the Los Angeles Lakers team could achieve an easy victory in that game, which is why the Denver Nuggets team achieving victory was difficult for everyone to understand.
The Los Angeles Lakers team came with the starting players Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Travis Knight playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.
The Denver Nuggets team came with the starting players Nick Van Exel playing as PG, Chauncey Billups playing as SG, Eric Washington also playing as SG and helping to defend against SF, Antonio McDyess playing as PF, Raef LaFrentz playing as Center.
The game started with the Los Angeles Lakers team in the attack, Shaquille O'Neal won the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team and passed to Jake, Jake advanced to the attack at a slower pace.
Jake passed the ball to Kobe Bryant from the right, Bryant received the ball and Chauncey Billups came in pressing on the defense, so Bryant held the ball just before passing it to Rick Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Eric Washington came pressing on the defense.
Fox tried to make an individual move, but Washington would not let Fox move forward, so Fox passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Nick Van Exel arrived pressing on defense, Van Exel was upset with the Los Angeles Lakers team after leaving.
Nick Van Exel played well in his time on the Los Angeles Lakers team and did not understand why he left the team in an exchange with two players who were not as good as he was, especially in a time when the Los Angeles Lakers team did not have good PG on the team.
So Nick Van Exel was even more upset with Jake who joined the Los Angeles Lakers team playing as PG and was now one of the best players in the NBA, so in that game, Van Exel wanted to show all his skill and help the Denver Nuggets team win the game.
Jake held the ball a little and passed it to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and made a feint that tricked the opponent and Bryant tried the mid-range shot and made the first 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Soon the Denver Nuggets team went on the attack and Van Exel advanced the ball, Van Exel passed the ball to Billups on the left and Kobe Bryant was on the defense, Billups tried to make a feint, but Bryant was not fooled, so Billups decided to pass the ball to Washington from the right.
Washington received the ball and Fox came to press on defense, Washington managed to trick Fox with a feint and attempted a mid-range shot to score 2 points for the Denver Nuggets team and tie the game.
The Denver Nuggets team wanted to win this game and pushed in attack and defense from the beginning of the game, Jake was controlling the pace of the game and trying to help the defense so that the Los Angeles Lakers team could gain the advantage in points in the first quarter.
In another move Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Washington came to press on defense, Fox held the ball a little and passed it to Bryant on the right.
Bryant received the ball and Billups came to press on defense, so Bryant tried a feint, but Billups was not fooled, so Bryant passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and with a feint, he managed to get rid of the opposing defense.
Van Exel was able to react quickly, but Jake was faster and advanced into the area, Jake advanced and the Denver Nuggets team's defense didn't know how they could stop Jake, so Jake took advantage of that opportunity and passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal.
Raef LaFrentz was not close to O'Neal in that play, so O'Neal advanced and scored another 2 points with a dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team, O'Neal was happy to score his first points in that game.
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers team played so well Shaquille O'Neal thought he could score more points in the last games, in the first games of the season he scored more than 30 points in several games, but in the last games, he failed to score 30 points.
Shaquille O'Neal knew that with the whole team playing well it was more difficult than he had so many opportunities to score more points, but Jake was scoring more than 30 points in every game, and in most games, Jake was trying fewer attacks than he was.
Of course, the biggest reason for that was that Jake scored a lot on three-point shots, so Jake needed less attack than he did to score 30 points, Shaquille O'Neal was happy with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the games and also thought that Jake was doing a great job as a PG.
For Shaquille O'Neal the most important thing was to win the NBA title at the end of the season, so he was more dissatisfied with his performance in the games than with the performance of his teammates.
The Denver Nuggets team soon went on the attack, Van Exel advanced with the ball and went to Washington on the right, Washington received the ball and Fox arrived to press in defense, Washington held the ball a little and passed to Billups on the left.
Billups received the ball and Bryant came to press on defense, Billups did not hold the ball and passed the ball to Antonio McDyess later on, McDyess received the ball and Travis Knight came to press on defense.
McDyess managed to spin and tried the hook to make 2 more points for the Denver Nuggets team, the Denver Nuggets team was pushing in the attack and the game was balanced and this impressed the crowd that did not expect the Denver Nuggets team to play so well.
The first quarter ended with the Denver Nuggets team winning by 2 points, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake started playing well in that game too.
"The first quarter ends and the Denver Nuggets team is surprising everyone and winning the game so far with a 2 point advantage, due to the performance of the two teams in the season so far, everyone hoped that the Los Angeles Lakers team would be winning this game."
"It's true, but we also have to say that the Denver Nuggets team is playing very well in this game, it is a different game than the last one that the players of the Denver Nuggets team did and that is why they are getting this game balanced."
"Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers team is also playing well, even though some players don't seem to be playing as well as in other games, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Jake Smith are playing well as in all games and are keeping the balanced game."
"The players who are playing best on the Denver Nuggets team are Antonio McDyess and Chauncey Billups, on the Los Angeles Lakers team Rick Fox and Travis Knight is not playing as well as in other games."
"It is good news for the Los Angeles Lakers team that Robert Horry may return in the next games, and the Los Angeles Lakers team is negotiating to sign NBA title winner 5-time Dennis Rodman."
"I don't know if hiring Dennis Rodman can be a good thing for the Los Angeles Lakers team because of the personal problems that Dennis Rodman has, but it will definitely be a good PF that the Los Angeles Lakers team needs."
This was a tough game for the Los Angeles Lakers team and Jake knew he had to try harder in that game if he wanted to win, but coach Del Harris thought that in that game Shaquille O'Neal had to rest for a few minutes.
So in this second quarter and in the other quarters, Coach Harris wanted to replace Shaquille O'Neal for a few minutes, which would certainly make things more difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win, luckily Coach Harris did not intend to replace other players.
The Denver Nuggets team started in the attack in the second quarter, Van Exel advanced with the ball and went to Washington on the right, Washington received the ball and Fox came to press on defense, Washington tried a feint and got rid of the defense and tried a shot from mid-range to make 2 more points for the Denver Nuggets team.
In another move the Los Angeles Lakers team was on the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Washington came to press on defense, so Fox did not attempt a move and passed to Bryant on the right.
Kobe Bryant received the ball and Billups came in to press on defense, Bryant decided to make an individual move and did the between the legs dribble move, so Billups didn't know what Bryant was going to do and he stayed put.
After that move, Kobe Bryant managed to advance to the inside area and Billups was unable to keep up well in defense, Bryant advanced and drive to the basket and made 2 more points with a dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
In this second quarter, the two teams were still balanced and it was being a game in which the two teams attacked well, the Los Angeles Lakers team was playing better and was increasing the advantage a little on the scoreboard.
But when Shaquille O'Neal was replaced, the Denver Nuggets team was able to press again, Jake was playing as smoothly as in other games and was defending well against Van Exel who was not attacking much in that game.
In another move the Los Angeles Lakers team went on the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Washington came to press on defense, Fox decided not to make any moves and passed to Bryant on the right.
Bryant received the ball and Billups came to press on defense, this time Bryant did not try to make an individual play, Van Exel saw the play and moved even closer to Jake to try to prevent Kobe Bryant from passing the ball to him.
Bryant realized this and decided to pass to Fox on the left again, Fox received the ball with a little more freedom this time and tried a mid-range shot, this time Fox did not hit and McDyess managed to catch the defensive rebound for the Denver Nuggets team.
Van Exel called for the ball further and McDyess passed it to him, Van Exel received the ball and quickly tried to advance to get a counterattack, Van Exel and Billups advanced quickly in the attack.
Jake and Kobe Bryant who were further behind managed to get back to defense, the Denver Nuggets team tried to make a quick counterattack, but Jake was even faster and managed to get back to defend quickly.
Seeing this, Van Exel decided to pass the ball to Billups who was on the left, Billups received the ball and had already noticed that Bryant was approaching quickly to defend, Billups, advanced further.
Arriving in the inside area Bryant had arrived to defend against Billups, so Billups decided to pass to Van Exel, Van Exel received the ball and advanced to try the layup, Jake who was in defense did not think that Van Exel would try the layup, so Jake waited the right time and jump to make the block.
Van Exel and Billups did not expect Jake to be able to make the block, Kobe Bryant who already hoped that this could happen managed to catch the rebound, and passed the ball to Jake again, with this counterattack the players of both teams were on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers team court.
Except for Shaquille O'Neal who had stayed on the side of the Denver Nuggets team, Jake realized this and made a high pass to Shaquille O'Neal, it was a long pass that crossed almost the entire court and O'Neal can easily catch the ball.
So Shaquille O'Neal advanced alone to make the dunk and 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, with this move the Los Angeles Lakers team did not lose the advantage they had on the scoreboard and increased the players' spirits.
The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team recovering and ending the second quarter by winning the game with a good lead on the scoreboard, Jake played for 12 minutes and made 8 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
"What an incredible game we are watching here today, the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to recover and ended the second quarter by winning the game with the points advantage after finishing losing in the first quarter."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team really played well in that second quarter, with a great performance by Jake Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal who attacked and defended well, that play in which Jake made a block after the counterattack of The Denver Nuggets team shows the dedication that the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team are having in this game."
"It is true, we must also say that the Denver Nuggets team played very well in that second quarter as well, the players put pressure on the attack and defense and so the game remained balanced."
"We cannot say which of the two teams will win this game, so we will continue to follow this good game to know which team will win at the end of the game."
In the third quarter, the Denver Nuggets team had to keep pressing in attack to try to win the game, but it was the Los Angeles Lakers team that started strong in attack and also in defense.
Even with Coach Harris replacing Shaquille O'Neal for a few minutes in all quarters, Jake was still able to organize his attacks well and Nick Van Exel was unable to defend well against him in that game.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Billups came to press on defense, Bryant held the ball before passing to Fox on the left, Fox was not playing so well in this game, but he was still helping the team Los Angeles Lakers with several points and defending too.
Fox received the ball and Washington came to press in defense, Fox tried a feint, but Washington was not deceived and stood firm in defense, so Fox decided to pass the ball back to Jake.
Jake received the ball and Van Exel came to press on defense, Jake made a feint and step back and tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers, Van Exel didn't even have a chance to hinder Jake in this play.
The Denver Nuggets team was not doing so well in the third quarter, the players were missing a lot of attacks and with the Los Angeles Lakers team realizing that they were putting even more pressure on the defense.
The Denver Nuggets team went on the attack and Van Exel advanced to the attack and passed the ball to Billups on the left, Billups received the ball and Bryant pressed the defense, so Billups decided to pass the ball to Washington on the right.
Washington received the ball and saw that Van Exel was free and decided to pass the ball to him, but Jake hoped for that and managed to intercept Washington's pass, Jake took the ball and advanced with speed to attack.
Van Exel was the last player in the Denver Nuggets team's defense and tried to accompany Jake to defend against him, but Jake was faster and Van Exel was unable to follow, Jake advanced to the painted area and scored 2 more points with the dunk for the team Los Angeles Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets team could not attack as well as in other quarters and the Los Angeles Lakers did not miss the opportunity to further increase the advantage in points that they had in the game.
The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a big lead on the scoreboard, Jake played for 12 minutes in that third quarter and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.
In the last quarter, the Denver Nuggets team came back much better as it was in the initials quarters, but the advantage of the Los Angeles Lakers team was already very large and the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team remained good and the Denver Nuggets team was unable to reverse the score.
The Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 116 points against 99 points from the Denver Nuggets team, Jake played for 12 minutes in the last quarter and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, thus achieving another double-double.
"And so this great game that we had ended, the Denver Nuggets team played a great game surprising everyone, but the Los Angeles Lakers team still managed their tenth victory this season."
"Really, the Denver Nuggets team played really well, but the Los Angeles Lakers team has the best attack this season and has won 10 of the 11 games they have had this season."
"It is even more amazing to remember that this season we will only have 50 games, so we have had more than 20 percent of the games this season and the Los Angeles Lakers team has only one defeat."
"Yes, Jake Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant played very well and it was important for the Los Angeles Lakers team to get another victory in that balanced game."
The Los Angeles Lakers team had made a great start to the season and the sports media increasingly thought they had a team that could win the NBA title this season.
After the end of the game, the reporters came to interview some players from the Los Angeles Lakers team, this time the players wanted to talk to the reporters, one of the reporters approached Shaquille O'Neal first to speak with him.
"Hi Shaq, what do you think of the Lakers team's performance so far this season?"
"I'm very happy, we started this season very well with just one defeat so far, Jake's entry into the team helped our team to achieve these victories, I think with more games the team will have the players even more in touch and we will play the games even better."
"And what do you think about Coach Harris starting to replace you and the other players in the games so that you don't get tired?"
"I feel like I could play longer in that game and of course I don't like being replaced, but this season is really having a lot of games and I and the other players don't have that much time to rest."
"I think Coach Harris knows what he's doing and as long as our team gets the win I don't mind playing a few minutes less."
"Shaq, you talked about Jake, what do you think about his joining the Lakers team?"
"I think Jake is an excellent player, he debuted this season and he adapted very well to the NBA and our team too, he is really an incredible player with that average points and assists he gets."
"Jake has managed to do 5 triple-double this season which is quite impressive, I think he is the best rookie of this season and one of the best players in the NBA today."
After the reporters spoke to Shaquille O'Neal they went to talk to Jake, it wasn't at all games that players did interviews, and with these victories, the Los Angeles Lakers team was one of the most sought after media teams.
"Hi, Jake, you have been making one of the best debuts as a player in NBA history, what have you thought of your debut season on the Lakers team so far?"
"I am very happy with the season we have had so far, I have always been a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers team and have always dreamed of playing for this team, I am doing my best to help the team win and I am happy that this has happened."
"Playing with great players like Shaq and Kobe has been very good, making assists have been easier playing with them, Rick is also playing very well and it helps me to perform better."
"Jake, the game you had against the Seattle SuperSonics team was talked about a lot because you played against Gary Payton who is one of the best PG in NBA history, what did you think of this game?"
"It was a great honor to play against Gary Payton in that game, he is one of my idols in the NBA, the game was very difficult because Payton defends very well, I had to work very hard to defend against him and I couldn't even try many steals in that game."
"Even with my efforts Payton still played very well and scored a lot, I was also happy to play against Scottie Pippen and against John Stockton who are also idols that I have."
"The truth is that most of the games that I have this season will be against great idols that I have, and I will try even harder to perform well in those games."
The reporters were satisfied with the interviews and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team left the Arena and returned to the hotel, everyone was tired and happy with the victory in that game, they were not playing away from home so they were facing teams that were not having a good season.
But these games were surprisingly difficult, so players would not underestimate the next opponent after the players rested for a few hours, the Los Angeles Lakers team board decided to make the trip that night.
So the players left the hotel and took the plane to Vancouver, British Columbia where they would play the next game as a visitor, arriving in Vancouver the players went to the hotel reserved to rest for the next game that would be the next day.
The game happened the next day, the Los Angeles Lakers team came prepared for a difficult game, the game would be against the Vancouver Grizzlies team that had 6 losses and only 3 victories in the 9 games that they had this season.
It would be Jake's first official game playing against Mike Bibby who was a friend of his, in that game the Los Angeles Lakers team was not playing well, Coach Harris also looked different because this was perhaps his last game at the helm of the team.
In the Vancouver Grizzlies team, Shareef Abdur-Rahim played very well and Mike Bibby also played a good game, fortunately with Jake's great effort the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to win the game making 94 points against 91 of the Vancouver Grizzlies team.
Shaquille O'Neal also played very well defensively in that game and managed a double-double with 10 rebounds, O'Neal also made 6 blocks and 2 steals in that game, with which the Los Angeles Lakers team won 11 games in 12 games this season.
After another victory the Los Angeles Lakers team was fine, but Jake realized that coach Del Harris would be fired, Jake was not happy about it and was worried about playing with coach Phil Jackson, because he might not adapt to the strategy to play in an offensive triangle.
After the end of that game, Jake told Coach Del Harris that he would return to Los Angeles and head to the next game in Los Angeles, Coach Harris knew Jake was in the good physical condition and didn't even know if he would continue to be team coach then allowed.
Jake flew to Los Angeles the same day because the next day he would go to the Grammys to hope for Kate's victory, Jake was used to flying and arriving at his house very late to rest.