bhwS

by Cr0w0019

this is a fanfic of a bhwS book i read with a little bit of things edited to make it better

49. Chapter 49

The Playoffs

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch the first game between these two teams in this first phase of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers team plays at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves."

"The Minnesota Timberwolves team had the worst performance of the Western Conference teams that qualified for the playoffs, yet in the first round games where a team needs 3 wins to qualify we can expect a lot of games between the two teams."

"At the very least we will have 3 games between these two teams and thus the Minnesota Timberwolves team is much more likely to advance to the next phase of the playoffs with so many games."

"Kevin Garnett has been doing the best season of his career and is making the fan better accept the millionaire contract that is being paid to him, even if the team's budget was compromised because of Garnett's contract, the Minnesota Timberwolves team has a team strong."

"Even so, the Los Angeles Lakers team is definitely a favorite to win this game and qualify for the next phase of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers team is a favorite to win this season's NBA title."

"Even with this reduced season with 50 games, the Los Angeles Lakers team had one of the best seasons in the team's history with 44 victories and just 6 losses ending the season in first place at the Western Conference."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team has the best attack of this season with excellent players like 5-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Rick Fox on the starting team."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team still has Jake Smith who debuted this season and was chosen in the three months of this season as the player of the month and is a favorite to be chosen as this season's MVP."

"Jake averaged 34.9 points, 11 assists and still has an average of 8 rebounds and 8 steals per game, Jake also plays the 48 minutes in every game, Jake plays every minute of the game which helped the team Los Angeles Lakers taking advantage in many important games."

"With this team, it is normal for the Los Angeles Lakers team to be the favorite team to win the NBA title, we will follow this game to see which team starts these playoffs with a victory."

Just as the commentators said what was expected in this game was for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win the game, the players of both teams also knew this, and the fans who were at the Great Western Forum expected it.

The game started and Shaquille O'Neal won the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who started organizing the first attack for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick Fox on the left, this season Rick was having one of the best seasons of his career as a player, Rick played more than 44 games in this reduced season and won the affection of the fans with his good performances in the season.

Rick played well in most games and with the Los Angeles Lakers team playing well and winning many games it was natural for Rick to be praised as well as the other players, Rick received the ball and Sam Mitchell arrived pressing in defense.

Rick held the ball for a while and passed it to Kobe Bryant on the right, Kobe received the ball and Anthony Peeler came pressing on the defense, Kobe held the ball and tried to make a feint and deceive Peeler, Kobe tried to make a body feint and could not deceive Peeler.

Kobe kept trying and dribbled pretending he was going to go left and going right, Peeler was tricked in that move and Kobe advanced to the inside area, Joe Smith tried to hinder the advance of Kobe who accelerated and drive to the basket to make the 2 first points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The fans were excited by Kobe's beautiful play to make those first points, Jake hoped that in this game Shaq and Kobe would stand out as they always did in the important playoff games, if they played well it was certain that the Los Angeles Lakers team would win.

In another move the Minnesota Timberwolves team went on the attack, Terrell Brandon advanced with the ball and passed to Peeler on the left, Peeler received the ball and Kobe came pressing on the defense.

Peeler held the ball for a while and passed it to Mitchell on the right, Mitchell received the ball and Rick came in pressing on the defense, Mitchell tricked Rick with a feint and tried to advance from the right.

Rick was not fooled and pressed in defense, Mitchell passed the ball to Peeler and Peeler went to the middle and the Minnesota Timberwolves team players changed positions in the play, Peeler passed the ball to Brandon on the right and Jake was on the defense.

Brandon received the ball with the possession time running out and he attempted the mid-range shot and scored 2 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves team, at the beginning of the game the Minnesota Timberwolves team was playing well in attack and trying to press on defense.

So, in the beginning, the game was balanced, this was expected for the Minnesota Timberwolves team to reach the playoffs meant that they had a good team with good players, but those who knew the Los Angeles Lakers team knew that the Los Angeles Lakers team started it was usually slower.

This was not a recommendation from Coach Rambis, it was Jake's style of play as PG, the Los Angeles Lakers team did not start slowly and just kept pace with the opponent's game so that Jake could understand the opposing players.

Coach Rambis and the other players didn't complain because it was difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team to end the first quarter by losing the game, and with the team having just 4 losses in the season the confidence that the other players had in Jake was much greater.

In another move Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and Mitchell came pressing on the defense, Rick tried to make a feint, but Mitchell was not fooled and Rick passed the ball to Kobe on the right.

Kobe received the ball and Peeler came in to press in defense, Kobe made no attempt to make any individual moves and passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Brandon came in to press in defense.

Brandon knew that Jake was very good at making three-point shots and usually the opposing players just tried to hinder Jake, but this was a playoff game and Brandon thought he had to try to put more pressure on the defense to make Jake miss or even try block.

Jake didn't know what Brandon was thinking and made a feint pretending that he was going to the left and advancing on the right, Brandon, who was pressing on defense, couldn't react when Jake advanced on the right and was tricked.

What Brandon didn't know was that the players who defended against Jake had a lot of difficulties, Jake was very good at three-point shots and if they tried the block in every move they could make several fouls and make some 4 point moves for Jake do.

In addition, if the players who played against Jake tried to defend by pressing and were very close to him when Jake tried to advance to the inside area using his speed, the opponents would not be able to keep up and Jake would pass every time.

Jake moved forward and Brandon was unable to keep up with him, Jake moved forward and this time Kevin Garnett tried to defend against Jake by preventing him from advancing into the painted area, Jake was quick and realized that Garnett came to defend against him and so Jake passed the ball to Shaq who was free.

Shaq received the ball from Jake and advanced to score 2 more points with a dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the Los Angeles Lakers fans celebrated this beautiful play by Jake, Jake thought very fast in the plays and was never a selfish player who he just wanted to score a lot, so it was difficult for opponents to guess what he was going to do.

If Garnett didn't try to defend against Jake, he would definitely continue to advance and score 2 points, so it was very difficult for opponents to defend against Jake when he decided to make a 2 point play.

Even though Jake was very good at three-point shots, he was more likely to make a mistake trying to make a three-point shot than making a two-point shot, so opponents had to defend away from Jake to prevent him from moving forward. internal area.

In another move the Minnesota Timberwolves team was on the attack and Brandon advanced with the ball and passed it to Peeler on the left, Peeler received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Mitchell on the right.

Mitchell received the ball and Rick came on to defend, Mitchell received the ball and managed to trick Rick with a feint and stepped back to try a mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

The game remained balanced with the Los Angeles Lakers team always winning the game, that did not make the Minnesota Timberwolves players happy because they knew that the Los Angeles Lakers team was controlling the game.

The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a small points advantage, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.

"The first quarter ends with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game, the game looked balanced, but everyone could see that the Los Angeles Lakers team was dominating the game in that first quarter."

"Garnett and Mitchell played well in that first quarter and we could see the Minnesota Timberwolves team struggling to score, and even so the Los Angeles Lakers still ended up winning that first quarter."

"Yes, this is the Los Angeles Lakers team's playing style this season that has only changed in the toughest games, Jake is an excellent PG and if he led the Lakers team to achieve so many victories this season playing like that, then this is the right way for the Lakers team to play."

"The Minnesota Timberwolves team is also very strong and can still find an opportunity to win that game, moreover, this is only the first game of the 3 games between the two teams and the Minnesota Timberwolves team can find a way to win and move on to the next phase."

In that game, Jake was much more relaxed and he knew he could save himself a little for the next games, with Shaq and Kobe playing very well it was easier for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win.

Jake realized that this game was easier, but he did not underestimate his opponent and he knew that the Minnesota Timberwolves team might surprise, but his biggest fear was that in the next games Shaq and Kobe would play badly and he would have to do the best performance that he could to ensure victory for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The second quarter started with the Los Angeles Lakers team putting more pressure on the attack, Jake had already seen how the opposing players were doing and so he started to better control the pace of the game.

Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Peeler arrived pressing in defense, Kobe was doing the low dribble keep the ball bouncing low nearest to the floor, so Kobe prevented Peeler from trying to do the steal.

Kobe had the ball and Peeler kept pressing in defense, Kobe jab stepped and Peeler retreated, so Kobe was free to try a mid-range shot and score 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe was playing very well in that game and Peeler was unable to defend well against Kobe, so Jake tried to make more plays with Kobe on the right and with Shaq ahead too, so the Minnesota Timberwolves team was having trouble defending.

The Los Angeles Lakers team started the second quarter pressing in the attack and the Minnesota Timberwolves team was having a hard time staying on defense, as this was not the only game between the two teams in the playoffs the Minnesota Timberwolves team players were calmer to try to achieve victory.

In another move the Minnesota Timberwolves team was on the attack, Brandon advanced the ball and passed Mitchell on the right, Mitchell received the ball and held it for a bit and then passed the ball to Peeler on the left.

Peeler received the ball and Kobe came pressing on defense, Peeler tried to trick Kobe with a feint, but Kobe was not fooled, so Peeler decided to pass the ball to Garnett later on.

Garnett got the ball and Shaq came up to press in defense, Garnett was playing well in that game, but Shaq was also playing well in defense and so Garnett couldn't score as many points as in other games.

Garnett protected the ball with his body and made a forceful move trying to advance to the painted area, Shaq was heavier and stronger than Garnett and was not pushed around and kept Garnett away from the painted area.

Garnett pretended that he would advance from the right and did a spin and advanced from the left, Shaq still managed to stay in defense, Garnett advanced anyway and tried the layup and made 2 more points for the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

After a few minutes in the second quarter, the game was not so balanced and the Los Angeles Lakers team started to increase the points advantage, Jake continued playing very well and made more steals in the second quarter defending better too.

The Los Angeles Lakers team really wanted this victory playing at home and all the players seemed motivated to achieve that, Dennis Rodman was defending well and managed to catch several defensive rebounds preventing the Minnesota Timberwolves team from having a chance to score more points.

Rick was also well on the attack and even though he was unable to score many points, he still helped by not letting the players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team try to double-team Jake and Kobe.

In another play Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Peeler arrived pressing on defense, Kobe held the ball and passed to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and went to the middle and Jake went to to the left.

The players had to change positions to try to hinder the defense of the opposing team, in many plays the Los Angeles Lakers team did not need to do that, but in these playoffs, coach Rambis insisted that they make this move more.

Rick passed the ball to Jake on the left, Jake received the ball and Brandon was again next to him pressing in defense, Jake remained calm even with Brandon pressing in defense.

Jake made a feint doing the jab step and Brandon who let Jake pass him a few times stepped back, this gave more freedom to Jake who tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

With this 3-point move from Jake the crowd was excited again, Jake was currently the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers team and he was for fans the most important player for playing every minute in every game and being the player who most he made points.

In another move the Minnesota Timberwolves team was on the attack, Brandon advanced with the ball and passed Mitchell on the right, Mitchell received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Peeler on the left.

Peeler received the ball and Kobe came pressing in defense, Peeler was not playing so well in this game and that was because Kobe was defending very well in that game, so Peeler just tried to make the jump shot a few times and most of the times he tried to pass the ball.

Peeler tried to trick Kobe with a feint and Kobe was not fooled, so Peeler tried to pass the ball to Garnett later on, but Jake had realized that Peeler was going to try that move and intercepted his pass and made the steal.

After the steal Jake calmed his teammates and started the play slowly, the Los Angeles Lakers team was winning with a good point advantage with Jake's steals and the Minnesota Timberwolves' mistakes and they had no reason to rush.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a good point advantage, in that second quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.

"The second quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to win the game, the Los Angeles Lakers team is much better in that game and the Minnesota Timberwolves defense cannot stop Jake, Kobe, and Shaq in that game."

"The attack by the Los Angeles Lakers team is doing very well in this game with all the players on the Lakers team playing well, even though the Minnesota Timberwolves attack is playing well too, it is not enough for them to win the game."

"In the last games of this season we see Kobe and Shaq playing much better in defense and that is why the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team is stronger, with the steals and Jake's good defense the Lakers team has the advantage in this game."

In the third quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves team, which had little choice, kept trying to press in the attack and press in the defense too, but they knew that if the Los Angeles Lakers team kept pressing in the attack it would be difficult for them to win that game.

Fortunately, as expected by the Los Angeles Lakers team coach Kurt Rambis, he realized that the Los Angeles Lakers team had a good advantage in this game and decided to replace the main players of the team so that they could rest and play better in the next games.

This was normal for playoff team coaches to do and even Shaq and Kobe expected it, the Minnesota Timberwolves team could not replace the top players losing and they saw it as an opportunity for them to try to win the game.

Even so, it was the Los Angeles Lakers team that started pressing in the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Derek Fisher on the right, Fisher took over from Kobe as he did several times this season and he could help Jake organize some plays.

Fisher received the ball and Peeler came in to press on defense, Fisher held the ball for a while and passed it to Rodman ahead, Rodman received the ball and Joe Smith came in to press on defense.

Rodman held the ball a little and passed it to Jake in the back, Jake received the ball and passed it to Rick from the left, Rick received the ball freely and pretended he tried a mid-range shot, but it was actually a fake pump that tricked Mitchell, so Rick got free and tried a mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

At the end of the third quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to further increase their points advantage and it was almost impossible for the Minnesota Timberwolves to win that game, so the Minnesota Timberwolves coach decided to replace the main players for a few minutes in the last quarter.

So in the last quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team had no more difficulty maintaining their points advantage and coach Rambis replaced Rick, Kobe, Shaq for even longer and only Jake remained on the court.

The game ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team got the victory by making 112 points against 89 points of the Minnesota Timberwolves team, it was a great victory that was expected by the media and the fans of the two teams.

In this game, the Los Angeles Lakers team played very well and even then Jake was the highlight of the game, Jake played for 12 minutes and made 37 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, and 8 steals, Jake managed to a double-double and won more confidence for the next games.

"The game ends with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game as expected before the game, in this game all the players on the Los Angeles Lakers team played well and it was natural that they would end up with the victory."

"It's true, the players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team still played well in that game, but with all the players from the Los Angeles Lakers team playing well it was expected that the Lakers team would win that first playoff game."

"If the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to play well like that, the Minnesota Timberwolves team will not have a chance to win any of the next games, but this is difficult to happen and the Minnesota Timberwolves team still have 2 more opportunities to get the victory so that we have more games in that first phase of the playoffs."

"On the Minnesota Timberwolves side, the highlight was again Kevin Garnett who played very well in attack and defense even playing against Shaquille O'Neal, when Shaq started to be replaced he started to make even more points making the Minnesota Timberwolves team don't lose by such a big difference in points."

"Terrell Brandon and Sam Mitchell also played very well in the attack and made an effort in defense, but that was not enough for the Minnesota Timberwolves to stop the best attack this season."

"In this game, Rick Fox played very well scoring several points and attracting the attention of the Minnesota Timberwolves defense so that Jake and Kobe could attack more freely, Dennis Rodman helped the team by defending well and catching several important defensive rebounds."

"Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant did not play for that long, but they still played very well at the beginning of the game and were important for the Los Angeles Lakers team to ensure victory."

"Jake Smith was the main player of the Los Angeles Lakers team again playing every minute of the game and making a double-double with 37 points and 13 assists."

After that game, the Los Angeles Lakers team was even more favorite to be on to the next stage and Jake was closer to winning the MVP award of the season, the Lakers team fans were excited about the team's chance to win the NBA title later so many years.

The players celebrated this victory a lot and the coach Rambis was also excited, after all the Los Angeles Lakers team got the victory and he managed to spare some players who were not so tired in this game.

After the game Jake returned to his house with his mother who watched Jake's first game in the playoffs, this was Jake's first NBA game that Eva could watch and she realized it was different than when Jake played in college.

Jake was happy to have Eva watching the game and can relax more and be more confident, Jake got one of the best places near the court for his mother and in many plays, he made the points he looked at Eva to see her celebrating.

Jake managed to secure the best seats for his mother because he was the player on the Los Angeles Lakers team and also because he paid for tickets at every game, Jake could get tickets without having to pay for being a player, but he wanted to get the best places for his mother.

Because of that Jake got the best seats even in the game in which the Los Angeles Lakers team would play as a visitor, Eva was still not as well known by the fans of the Lakers team and by some media people, but even so, she was very well received.

Arriving home Jake talked to his mother for a while about the game and then he went to rest, the next morning Jake woke up and went to eat the breakfast that Eva had insisted on making.

On that day the players had a rest before the second game the next day, coach Rambis told the players that they would have to do a lighter training that day, but they would not have the day to rest.

The players already hoped they would not have so many days to rest when the playoffs started, after all, if the Los Angeles Lakers team had a few straight losses they could be eliminated.

"Mom, did you like yesterday's game?"

"I enjoyed seeing your team winning, I don't know much about basketball and I'm just happy to know that your team is winning and hearing the fans shouting your name."

Eva did not like basketball very much and Jake knew that the truth was that Eva did not like sports very much, but Jake knew that his mother had started to enjoy watching basketball games after he became a professional player.

Jake knew that this could happen because, in his past life, Eva watched NBA games several times with him after he started to love basketball after the accident, so in this life that Jake was a professional player it was normal for Eva to like even more watch basketball games.

"Thanks, Mom, I was much more relaxed during the game knowing that you were watching, the next games are significant, and I am more confident knowing that you will be watching the games."

"You don't have to say that, Jake, I'm always going to support you, I'm going to take advantage of these games you're going to have to take a vacation from the restaurant, I've never taken a vacation in all these years since the restaurant opened."

This is a great idea, mom, when you go back to Miami you can give Anna a vacation too, I know she loves to stay at the restaurant, but she needs to rest too, if she doesn't want to take a vacation you can say she can stay at the restaurant all her vacation time, but she's not going to work."

"That's an excellent idea, Jake, Anna and I love staying at the restaurant, and I wouldn't be taking my vacation if it weren't for her playoff games, Anna also needs time for her to rest."

Jake knew that Anna loved staying at the restaurant because she loved to cook and also because Anna had no contact with her family, so her new family was Eva and Jake, at the restaurant Anna could cook and could see Eva and her other friends if Anna took a vacation she thought she would have to stay at her house alone.

Jake had never thought about it even though he knew that Anna was already 63 years old and was not too young to work at the restaurant every day without rest, luckily Anna's health was as good as Eva's and that's why Jake forgot about it sometimes.

After a few hours, Jake went to train with the other players on the Los Angeles Lakers team, everyone was happy with the easy win in the first game, Shaq and Kobe were not so happy because they played for less time, but they knew it was important for the team to win the games in the playoffs.

Certainly, when the NBA Finals games arrived, players could not rest even if they wanted to, for professional players the injuries were the worst that could happen and nobody wanted that to happen.

Soon the day of the next game came, the Great Western Forum was packed again with fans from the Los Angeles Lakers team, the last game was an easy win and fans and sports media expected it to happen again.

The two teams started the game with the same players from the last game and the Minnesota Timberwolves team hoped to win in that game and then play the next 2 games at their home and it would be easier for them to win.

The game started with the Minnesota Timberwolves team pressing in the attack, the Minnesota Timberwolves team's idea was to press in defense and try to score more points than the opponent, but they knew it wouldn't be easy.

In that first quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team started slowly as they did in all games, yet they continued to lead the scoreboard throughout the first quarter and ended up winning the first quarter.

Jake noticed in that first quarter that all the players on the Minnesota Timberwolves team were playing well and only Sam Mitchell was not doing so well, on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers team Kobe was not playing so well.

Fortunately, Shaq and Rick were playing well in the attack and that gave the Los Angeles Lakers team more chances to win, in the second quarter the Los Angeles Lakers team started to put more pressure on the attack and play better.

As in the past game, the Minnesota Timberwolves team could not defend against the strong attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team, and the Lakers team began to increase the advantage in points.

So in the third quarter, coach Rambis felt that he could replace the main players again and still achieve that victory, the Minnesota Timberwolves team could not replace the main players and they had to bet on getting the victory in that game.

Unfortunately for the Minnesota Timberwolves team in that game, Jake was playing well in defense again and even made a few blocks, Dennis Rodman and Robert Horry who replaces Dennis for a few minutes also played well in defense and this hindered the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

The game ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team securing their second win in two playoff games, the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with 117 points against 86 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"The game is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team gets another victory playing at home, the Minnesota Timberwolves team struggled to get the win, but the Los Angeles Lakers team was very good in that game and got the victory."

"In that Shaq game, Rick and Jake played very well in the attack and secured the victory for the Los Angeles Lakers team, in defense Jake, Dennis and Robert played well and prevented the Minnesota Timberwolves from making important points."

"The third game in this playoff phase is going to be at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, so the Minnesota Timberwolves team will have to win the next game playing at home to still get another game."

"If the Los Angeles Lakers team wins the next game, the Minnesota Timberwolves team will be eliminated and the Los Angeles Lakers team will advance to the next playoff phase."

After the end of the game, the reporters went to talk to the players, the players of both teams did not want to speak to the media, but Jake was more excited to have Eva watching the game and to have won the second playoff game and decided to talk one little with the media.

"Jake, the Los Angeles Lakers team won the first 2 games and if they win the next game they will advance to the next phase of the playoffs, are you confident of being able to advance to the next phase?"

"We are certainly confident, the Minnesota Timberwolves team is an excellent opponent and they are certainly a good team for advancing into the playoffs, but we are confident in being able to win and advance to the next phase of the playoffs."

"Jake, do you think that if you win the NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers team you will win the MVP award?"

"I don't know, a lot of the players who were chosen as the MVP of the season didn't win the NBA title and some didn't even make it to the NBA Finals, but I think I have a chance of winning that award this season."

"The truth is that my teammates and I are going to strive to win this NBA title regardless of any prize, that is our priority."

"Jake, do you think the Los Angeles Lakers team is the favorite to win the NBA title this season after those two victories in the first two playoff games?"

"I think our team has been the favorite to win the NBA title since before the playoffs, we have the best attack this season and we are the team with the most victories this season, but we will still have to strive like all the other teams to win the NBA title."

The reporters were happy with Jake's responses in that interview, Jake did not deviate from the questions and the reporters realized that Jake had learned to talk better with the media to prevent his words from being misunderstood by others.

After the end of that game, Jake returned to his house with his mother, the next game for the Los Angeles Lakers team was in 2 days, so Coach Rambis decided to let the players rest the next day and only the next day the players would go travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The players who were already a little tired after those first 2 games were very happy about it and Jake was also happy as he played every minute in every game, Jake had prepared a reservation at a hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota for Eva and had to warn that she would be late one day.

Jake also called to tell the driver of the car he had rented and the pilot of the helicopter, Eva was anxious because it was her first time riding a helicopter and she didn't mind delaying that trip by another day.

Jake came home and had his dinner with Eva and after that, he went to his room, Jake didn't go to sleep and called Kate to talk to her about the 2 games he had in the NBA playoffs, Kate couldn't watch to the games and for the past few days, she was busy with her concerts.

That day Jake knew Kate wasn't too busy and called her, Jake talked for a few hours with Kate who was happy with the Los Angeles Lakers team's victories and was also happy to know that Eva was watching Jake's playoff games.

Jake can rest well after talking to Kate and the other day he woke up very early to eat the breakfast with his mother, Jake took advantage of that rest day to take Eva to visit some places in Los Angeles.

Jake himself did not know many places, but the main tourist spots he knew and Jake also knew many famous restaurants with typical foods from various countries, this was currently the thing that most interested Eva.

Eva now had a restaurant that served typical dishes from all countries and to do that Eva had to know the dish she would make well, but after the restaurant opened Eva no longer had to travel with Jake and did not know any new dishes in countries many different.

So Jake used his experience with cooking and looked for places that had dishes that Eva had not yet made in her restaurant, Eva liked that a lot and was very happy with this tour with Jake.

After that Jake went to a movie theater to watch his movie with his mother, that was a request from Eva even though she can't watch the movie premiere with Jake, Jake naturally accepted it because he wanted to see the movie he participated in again.

Jake watched the premiere of the film, but he paid more attention to what had changed from the film he had seen in his past life than to the performance he had in the film, so this time Jake paid attention to the history of the film and his performance too.

Watching the scenes Jake realized that the scenes he had done with the doubles who knew how to fight seemed more real than the scenes he did with other actors who did not have much training, that was because in the scenes of Jake with other doubles it was not much editing was required and the fight scenes were almost real.

Of course, in the blows that hurt the most and when Jake attacked opponents, and they hit the wall afterward, it was all done with editing, but the normal fight scenes were much more 'real' even so, Jake thought his performance in the debut film it was very good.

Jake heard from the directors that if there was a next film, the character Jev that Jake would make would be much more important in the film and Jake would see how it would affect the films in The Matrix trilogy that he always liked a lot.

Eva also enjoyed watching this movie a lot with Jake, so Jake said that in the future he would receive a copy of this film to watch at the cinema he had at his house, for the time being, he had not received it because the film was still in theaters.

Jake remembered that for some reason this film would continue in theaters around the world until September 1999 even though in the past few weeks the film has hardly raised more than $ 100,000 worldwide.

An interesting thing that Jake learned the other day talking with Keanu Reeves was that the film The Matrix had already raised 210 million dollars only in the domestic box office, that impressed Jake who remembered that the film The Matrix had until the end of September less of 172 million dollars in the domestic box office in his past life.

This meant that in just over a month the box office of the film The Matrix was already bigger than what the film collected in all the time in Jake's past life, this made Jake happier because it showed that the film was a bigger success than it was in the past.

Jake also knew that he had more fans in Europe and Asia than in the United States, so the collection of the worldwide film could also be much higher with Jake's participation in this film, even more, because Jake's performance was highly praised by critics.

Of course, Jake couldn't know if the reason for this was that he acted well in the film or if it was just because of his fame as a basketball player, but Jake was very happy to have done more good for the film he always liked.

Even more because Jake would receive 2 percent of the final income from the film as payment for acting in the film, so he would receive $ 2 million for recording this film which was much more than most actors received in their first film and Jake knew that that number would only increase.

After doing all these things Jake went on a trip with the Los Angeles Lakers team to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Eva also went to Minneapolis, Minnesota by helicopter and Jake would just meet his mother at the Target Center.

Jake arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota and went to the hotel with the players and slept well waiting for the game the other day, soon the game day arrived and Jake saw that the players were very excited for this game.

Soon it was game time and the players went to the Target Center, the players were excited after the two victories in the first 2 games and they hoped the Los Angeles Lakers team could win again and so they would qualify for the next playoff phase. and I could rest more.

Jake knew it wouldn't be that easy and the Minnesota Timberwolves team would try very hard not to lose this game, after all, they knew that if they lost they would be eliminated and it would be the end of this season for them.

The Los Angeles Lakers team would start that game with Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Dennis Rodman playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.

The Minnesota Timberwolves team would start this game with Terrell Brandon playing as PG, Anthony Peeler playing as SG, Sam Mitchell playing as SF, Joe Smith, and Kevin Garnett playing as PF and Kevin defending against Shaq in that game.

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch this game this season, this is the third game between the Los Angeles Lakers team and the Minnesota Timberwolves team, the Lakers team won the first 2 games."

"If the Los Angeles Lakers team wins this game more they qualify for the next round and eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves team, but this victory will not be easy because the Minnesota Timberwolves team plays at home in that game."

"The highlight of the Minnesota Timberwolves team is Kevin Garnett who played very well in the first two games, but failed to bring victory to the Minnesota Timberwolves team."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team has several players that can be called highlights, such as Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, but the biggest highlight of the team this season has been the rookie, Jake Smith."

"Jake has been playing so well that he won this season's rookie of the year award and is competing for the season's MVP award, Jake will definitely work hard to bring victory to the Los Angeles Lakers team and ensure that the team moves forward third playoff game. "

Just as commentators said and as fans of both teams knew, if the Los Angeles Lakers team played well and Jake played well it was certain that they would win that game, and Jake was determined to bring victory to the Los Angeles Lakers team in that game.

Soon the game started and Shaquille O'Neal won the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who held the ball and started to organize the first play of that game.

Jake charged forward and passed the ball to Rick Fox on the left, Rick received the ball and Sam Mitchell came in to press on defense, Rick held the ball for a while and passed it on to Kobe Bryant on the right.

Kobe received the ball and Anthony Peeler pressed in defense, Kobe made the low dribble and Peeler could not try to steal, Kobe made a feint and stepped back to try the mid-range shot and make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The Los Angeles Lakers team started slowly as in all games, yet the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves team felt the pressure of the Los Angeles Lakers' attack, after all, if they lost that game they would be eliminated.

In that first quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves team started to put a lot of pressure on defense and attack because they knew they needed the victory, with that pressure Kobe and Rick started to miss some attacks and Jake realized that they were not playing as well as in other games.

With this pressure from the Minnesota Timberwolves team in the attack, Jake also realized that Sam Mitchell and Anthony Peeler were not playing as well in the attack, so the Los Angeles Lakers team would not be so disadvantaged in defense with Rick and Kobe playing badly.

The Minnesota Timberwolves team went on the attack, Terrell Brandon advanced the ball and passed it to Mitchell on the right, Mitchell received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Peeler on the left.

Peeler received the ball and Kobe arrived pressing in defense, Peeler decided not to try the individual play and passed to Kevin Garnett later, Garnett received the ball and Shaquille O'Neal arrived pressing in defense.

Shaq was playing very well in that game and that made Jake happy because with Shaq playing well and with some players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team playing poorly, it was more possible for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win the game.

Garnett had already played two games against Shaq and knew that Shaq defended well and that it was useless to use force to try to advance to the painted area, Garnett made a feint and managed to deceive Shaq and advance from the right using his speed.

Shaq still managed to keep defending even after being tricked, but Garnett was faster and so Garnett tried a hook shot and made 2 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves team, Garnett was also playing well in all games of that playoff.

This showed how a team with an excellent player had more difficulty in winning if they did not have other good players, the Minnesota Timberwolves team had good players, but that was not enough to win several games in the playoffs.

In another move Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Peeler came up to press in defense, Kobe had also realized that he was not playing so well in the attack, so he did not want to make many individual plays so as not to risk miss many attacks.

Kobe passed the ball to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Brandon came to defend, after the first 2 games Brandon understood that it was not very smart to press too much on defense playing close to Jake.

So Brandon was playing a little bit away from Jake, and if Jake tried the shot from outside he would have to try to get in the way and wait for Jake to miss, Jake took advantage of Brandon being further away and tried an outside shot to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Jake really got fewer shots when trying to shoot three points, but even so, his average hit was 77 percent, so it was enough to guarantee Jake more than 30 points in most games and it helped the Los Angeles Lakers team a lot.

The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a small points advantage, the game looked very balanced and had fewer points than the last games, the Los Angeles Lakers team always did that in games, but only Jake knew that this game was different.

Jake was unable to hold much and analyze his opponent and the Los Angeles Lakers team had to work hard to finish the first quarter by winning, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.

"The first quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team is winning the game, in that first quarter Jake Smith seems to have played better and Kobe Bryant and Rick Fox didn't seem to be playing so well."

"On the Minnesota Timberwolves side we could also see that Kevin Garnett was playing well, but Sam Mitchell and Anthony Peeler were not playing that well."

"The Minnesota Timberwolves team will have to work harder if they want to win and take that decision to a fourth game and then try the fifth game."

The Minnesota Timberwolves fans also became more discouraged after that first quarter, the fans realized that some players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team were not playing well and that perhaps the team would really be eliminated, especially because Jake and Shaq were playing well.

Soon the second quarter started with the Minnesota Timberwolves pressing on the attack, the Los Angeles Lakers team coach realized that Kobe and Rick were not playing as well and he decided he would not replace them in that game.

After all, if the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to win that game they would qualify and could rest even more without having to play another game, that was even worse for the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and held it for a while before passing it to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Peeler came pressing on the defense.

Kobe saw Jake advancing through the middle and passed the ball to him, Jake received the ball and continued to advance with speed, Brandon who did not expect Jake to do this was unable to continue defending.

Jake moved forward and Garnett had no choice but to try to defend against Jake even though he knew Jake had already planned this move, just as Garnett hoped Jake passed the ball, but Jake was smart and made a pass over the top.

Shaq took the ball high and made a dunk to complete the alley-oop and make 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Garnett who was thinking about intercepting Jake's pass can just look at Jake and Shaq's beautiful move.

In another move the Minnesota Timberwolves team was on the attack, Brandon advanced with the ball and passed it to Peeler on the left, Peeler received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Mitchell on the right.

Mitchell received the ball and Rick came in to press on defense, Mitchell tried to trick Rick with a feint, but Rick was not fooled and continued on defense, so Mitchell decided to pass the ball to Brandon further back.

In this game, only Garnett and Brandon were playing well in the attack, but Brandon was afraid to make the moves because in the last game Jake made 2 blocks when he tried to attack, Brandon still tried some attacks in the first quarter, but he always worried when he had to attack.

But in this play Brandon did not have much choice because the time of possession of the ball was running out, Jake also knew that, and even being a little far from Brandon he was attentive in the play.

Brandon stepped back for even more freedom and tried a shot from the outside, Jake moved quickly as he realized Brandon was going to try the three-point shot, Jake was very fast and jumped right after Brandon and made the block.

Dennis managed to catch the rebound after Jake made the block and the Los Angeles Lakers team got the ball, in a balanced game this play meant a lot, with this play Brandon would be even more afraid to attack.

The second quarter ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team was winning with a slightly greater advantage in points, in that second quarter, Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.

In the third quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves team continued to put pressure on the attack, after all the advantage that the Los Angeles Lakers team had was not so great and the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves team knew that if they lost that game they would be eliminated.

So in that third quarter in addition to the Minnesota Timberwolves team pressing in attack and defense, they started making more fouls until they made more than 6 fouls and the Los Angeles Lakers team started having to make a free throw.

The Minnesota Timberwolves team's idea was that they would not let the Los Angeles Lakers team take too long to attack and also because players like Shaq could miss more free throws.

The strategy worked and the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves team did a lot of fouls mainly in Shaq, even in Jake who had an average of 100 percent of hits in free throws was also a target in the opponents' fouls, after all, they didn't want Jake to attempt shots from 3 points.

With that, the Minnesota Timberwolves team ended the third quarter reducing the advantage that the Los Angeles Lakers team had, that cheered the fans because in the last quarter the difference in points between the two teams was much smaller.

The only problem was that because the Minnesota Timberwolves team made a lot of fouls in that third quarter, the players had a lot of fouls and couldn't continue making the fouls because they could be expelled.

So the only option for the Minnesota Timberwolves coach was to replace some players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team so that those players who entered could make more fouls.

With that, the Minnesota Timberwolves team could continue with the strategy of making fouls to prevent the Los Angeles Lakers team from making many points, but with that, the attack of the Minnesota Timberwolves team that also had to make many points was harmed.

The coach of the Los Angeles Lakers team had also realized this Minnesota Timberwolves strategy and so he replaced Shaq who was the biggest target of fouls for the Minnesota Timberwolves team and placed Robert Horry who was better at free throws and could still help in defense.

So in the last quarter, the two teams remained balanced and the fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves team were excited at the Target Center because either team could win.

Jake also realized this and realized that he had to try harder in the attack if he wanted the Los Angeles Lakers team to win that game, so Jake, who was the team's PG, started trying three-point shots without passing the ball to prevent the opponent fouls.

Jake tried 4 shots from outside and hit 3 of them, so the Minnesota Timberwolves team realized this and double-teamed Jake to prevent him from trying three-point shots, with that Jake passed the ball and the Minnesota Timberwolves team stopped making so many faults.

With the Minnesota Timberwolves team having to double-team Jake, his teammates had a much easier time making the attacking moves and making the points and so the Los Angeles Lakers team increased the points advantage.

Soon the Minnesota Timberwolves team managed to make another strategy causing Garnett to defend against Jake and press on defense as soon as Jake caught the ball, even before Jake arrived on the attack.

This prevented Jake from attacking easily, in addition, the Minnesota Timberwolves team no longer needed to double-team Jake, but when the Minnesota Timberwolves team did that, the Los Angeles Lakers team had already opened up an advantage in points that would be difficult for the team Minnesota Timberwolves recover and achieve victory.

So the game continued with the Minnesota Timberwolves team still trying to make the foul strategy and the Los Angeles Lakers team pressing more in defense, Jake who was not able to play well in the attack, started to try more steals and blocks to help the Los Angeles team Lakers to win.

At the end of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers team got the win with a good point advantage, which Jake did at the beginning of the last quarter helped the Los Angeles Lakers team to win and go to the next stage of the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Lakers team achieved the victory making 103 points against 95 points of the Minnesota Timberwolves team, in that game Jake played for 48 minutes and made 37 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 11 steals, and 3 blocks.

"The game is over, the Los Angeles Lakers team got one more win and so they advance to the next phase of the playoffs and eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves team, it was a great start to the playoffs for the Los Angeles Lakers team."

"This was the first game of that phase of the playoffs at the home of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Lakers team won, but the game was much more difficult than expected and the Minnesota Timberwolves team almost won."

"Kobe and Rick weren't playing that well and the Minnesota Timberwolves team's strategy of making many fouls towards the end of the game almost brought victory for them."

"Unfortunately, some players from the Minnesota Timberwolves team were also playing poorly and so it was more difficult for the Minnesota Timberwolves team to win the game."

"Jake was again the highlight of the game and made a triple-double with 37 points, 10 assists, and 11 steals and even made 3 blocks, at the beginning of the last quarter Jake hit 3 shots from outside and made 9 points and made the Minnesota team Timberwolves change the team's way of defending and brought victory to the Los Angeles Lakers team."

"With the Los Angeles Lakers team advancing to the next round with 3 wins, it will give greater confidence to the players and the fans in the next games."

The players of the Los Angeles Lakers team were very happy with the victory, in that game Jake and Shaq was more important for the victory and classification of the Lakers team and Kobe and Rick knew that.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' players were saddened to be eliminated from the playoffs, but they hoped they would lose those games against the Los Angeles Lakers team that was the favorite team to win the NBA title this season.

Jake talked to his mother for a while after the game and Eva said she would return to Jake's home in Los Angeles, after all, there was a helicopter waiting for her whenever Eva needed, Jake said he understood why after this game the Lakers team would return to Los Angeles waiting for the next game.

After a few hours, Jake was at his house in Los Angeles and Eva had already arrived and was waiting for him, Jake took a grape juice he liked to drink and toasted his mother to celebrate the victory and celebrate that the team Los Angeles Lakers had qualified for the next phase of the playoffs.

Jake didn't like drinking alcoholic beverages very much, but he wanted to be able to drink wine and champagne with his mother at times of celebration like this, soon Jake would be 21 and be of legal age to drink again.

Fortunately, Jake never really liked alcoholic beverages, so he can take all these years without drinking on his second chance, even Eva, who didn't like drinking a lot, was still drinking wine with Anna at the restaurant.

The other day Jake woke up early to eat the breakfast with his mother, Jake still didn't know who the next opponent would be because the Los Angeles Lakers team had won in just 3 games, but he would probably know on the 15th or 16th of May.

Either way, the Los Angeles Lakers team would probably play on the 17th or 18th of May, the Portland Trail Blazers team was playing against the Houston Rockets team and had won the first 2 games and lost the third game that happened yesterday, if the Portland team Trail Blazers won the next one they would qualify.

The San Antonio Spurs team won the 3 games against the Phoenix Suns team and had already qualified for the next phase of the playoffs too, the Utah Jazz team won the first game and lost the second and third games against the Sacramento Kings team.

Jake remembered that the same had happened in his past life and that the Utah Jazz team won the last 2 games and qualified for the next phase of the playoffs, if they qualified, the Utah Jazz team will play against the San Antonio Spurs team.

Anyway, the Los Angeles Lakers team would not have training that day because Coach Rambis gave the players a rest day, only the next day they would train and could train and rest until the 17th or until the 18th of May.

So the players would have at least 3 days of rest without games because they won the 3 games and qualified for the next phase, Jake thought that the San Antonio Spurs team would be their opponent in the next phase, and the San Antonio Spurs team had already ranked with 3 games too.

Of course, Jake knew well that the Los Angeles Lakers team had to win against the Portland Trail Blazers team to move on to the next stage, Jake had hopes that the Los Angeles Lakers team could win because he had him on the team and because Dennis Rodman was very important for the Lakers team to win the 3 games against the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

Dennis had more than 10 rebounds in all three games and was also important in defense, Jake knew that Dennis would be important in the playoffs, so he expected Dennis to remain on the Los Angeles Lakers team at least until the end of the season.

If the Los Angeles Lakers team got another skillful Power Forward to replace Dennis, Jake wouldn't mind that and he was sure that Dennis would leave the Lakers team more satisfied having won an NBA title.

After Jake ate the breakfast with Eva he asked for a break and went to his office to talk to Kate, Jake can't call after the game is over because he knew Kate was at a show that day, but in the morning he could call talk to Kate.

"Hi, Kate, how are you?"

"Hi, Jake, everything is fine with me, congratulations on the victory in the last games and for your team to qualify for the next phase of the playoffs."

"Thanks, I didn't call you yesterday because you were busy with your show."

"I was at the show, I asked Lily to let me know about the outcome of your game, even though I knew you were going to win, I was still worried."

Hearing Kate says that Jake just laughed, she and Eva were too used to the teams Jake played winning most games, but he knew it was possible that the team he played would be eliminated in those playoffs and in the next playoffs as well.

Jake wondered if Eva and Kate would be disappointed if they saw Jake's team being eliminated, after all they always expected him to win every game, Jake hoped that it wouldn't happen.

So in the next few days, Jake took the opportunity to relax and show his mother the city of Los Angeles, Jake had to train almost every day and hope that the next game would surely be in Los Angeles after all the Los Angeles Lakers team qualified in first.

Just as Jake expected on May 15, the Portland Trail Blazers won the third game against the Houston Rockets team and qualified for the next phase of the playoffs and would face the Los Angeles Lakers.

For Jake the Portland Trail Blazers team was the toughest opponent he faced this season, the Los Angeles Lakers team lost just one game and had other difficult games, but in his past life, the Los Angeles Lakers team had lost 2 games against the team Portland Trail Blazers in season.

Jake remembered that the Portland Trail Blazers team reached the West Conference Finals in his past life, the Portland Trail Blazers team won the 3 games against the Phoenix Suns team and easily qualified for the next playoff phase.

Then he had a tough game against the Utah Jazz team in which he lost 2 games and won the game with 4 wins after 6 games, then the Portland Trail Blazers team lost to the San Antonio Spurs team that won the NBA title 4-0.

So Jake didn't expect it to be easy to win all 4 games against the Portland Trail Blazers team to qualify for the next round, but Jake was confident that the Los Angeles Lakers team would win and qualify for the next round.

Jake also hoped that the San Antonio Spurs team would win the games against the Utah Jazz team and qualify for the West Conference Finals and face the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake thought that only in this way could he try to win the NBA title with pride that he won the stronger teams.

Soon more 2 days passed and soon the day of the first game came, it was on May 17 and the Los Angeles Lakers team was the favorite for playing better all season and also for not having lost 2 games against the same opponent throughout the season.

In addition, the Los Angeles Lakers team would play the first 2 games at home, so if they won those games as expected they would put all the pressure on the Portland Trail Blazers.

If the Portland Trail Blazers team won just one of the 2 games they would have at home, the fifth game would be decided in Los Angeles, so it was normal for the Los Angeles Lakers team to be the favorite to win those games.

Jake left the house and Eva had left a few minutes earlier to go to watch the game, Eva left before Jake and always arrived at the Great Western Forum, Jake arrived at the Great Western Forum and the crowd was arriving and it was expected that the Great Western Forum was full of fans.

Soon Jake arrived in the locker room and after a while, the players entered the court to see the Great Western Forum full of fans, Jake thought that the Portland Trail Blazers team would certainly feel pressure from the fans.

The names of the players of the two teams were called and when the names of the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team were called the crowd got very excited and started to scream even more.

In that game the Los Angeles Lakers team would start with Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Dennis Rodman playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.

The Portland Trail Blazers team would start the game with Damon Stoudamire playing as PG, Isaiah Rider playing as SG, the Portland Trail Blazers team would have Brian Grant and Rasheed Wallace playing as PF, and Brian Grant would defend against Rick Fox, and Arvydas Sabonis playing as Center.

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another game this season, this is the first game of the West Conference Semifinals of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers team will face the Portland Trail Blazers."

"The two teams will compete to see which team will make it to the West Conference Finals and try to make it to the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers team is the favorite to be playing at home and to have the best performance this season."

"But in this phase, teams need 4 wins to advance to the next playoff phase, so the Portland Trail Blazers team has a chance of winning 4 games and advancing to the next phase."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team has another advantage, which is having the best attack with Jake Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant playing, if the three of them play this and the next games, the Los Angeles Lakers team can certainly advance to the next one phase."

"The Portland Trail Blazers team also has one of the best offenses and one of the best defenses this season, even though they are not stronger in the attack, they are a balanced team and managed to advance to the playoffs with the fourth-best campaign playing like this."

The game started and Shaquille O'Neal won the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who started to organize the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick Fox on the left.

Rick received the ball and Brian Grant came to press on defense, Rick held the ball a little and passed it to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Damon Stoudamire arrived to press on defense.

Stoudamire was one of the best players on the Portland Trail Blazers team and he always had a hard time playing against the Los Angeles Lakers because he couldn't defend well against Jake and Jake managed to defend well against him.

In the only game, this season that the Portland Trail Blazers team managed to beat the Los Angeles Lakers team was in a game that the Portland Trail Blazers attack was very good and they didn't need Stoudamire to win.

Jake had the ball and thought a little about what play he would do, Jake decided to pass the ball to Kobe Bryant from the right, Kobe received the ball and Isaiah Rider came pressing on the defense, Kobe tried a feint and managed to trick Rider and advanced on the right.

Rider was deceived, but managed to recover and came back to defend, Kobe continued to advance and did a fast crossover and advanced through the middle, this time Rider was unable to follow and Kobe advanced to make 2 points with a layup.

The crowd cheered up with this move by Kobe, in the last game Kobe played very badly and in the last games he was not able to play as well as he should in playoff games, the fans and the media did not charge so much for Kobe because he was a player who was in the NBA a few years ago.

But Jake charged Kobe because he knew that in the future Kobe would be one of the best players in the NBA and right now he already had the ability to help the Los Angeles Lakers team more easily win the playoff games.

In another move the Portland Trail Blazers team was on the attack, Stoudamire advanced with the ball and passed to Grant on the right, the Portland Trail Blazers team played several games using 2 PF and that seemed to have worked well after all the Portland Trail Blazers team stayed in fourth among West Conference teams.

Grant received the ball and Rick arrived pressing on defense, Grant held the ball a little and passed it to Rider on the left, Rider received the ball and Kobe arrived pressing on defense, Rider started doing a Hockey Dribble so as not to lose the ball.

Rider made a feint and pretending he was going to move forward and Kobe retreated, so Rider took this chance to shoot a mid-range shot and score 2 points for the Portland Trail Blazers, the Portland Trail Blazers was also attacking well and the Los Angeles team Lakers had a hard time defending.

With the Portland Trail Blazers team also attacking well and having a good defense the game seemed balanced, but nobody knew if the game was evenly balanced or if the Los Angeles Lakers team was just analyzing the opponent.

Jake knew that the game was really difficult, but with Kobe and Shaq playing well the Los Angeles Lakers team had no difficulty in making the points, so the game was just balanced because he was analyzing the opponent.

Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and Grant came pressing on the defense, Rick tried to trick Grant with a feint, but failed.

Rick passed the ball to Jake in the back, Jake received the ball and Stoudamire came pressing on the defense, Stoudamire learned by watching Jake's games and was not defending close to Jake, Jake realized this and stepped back and tried an outside shot to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Stoudamire already expected Jake to make a move like that, but the Portland Trail Blazers team coach talked to him and told him not to try to stay close to Jake and if Jake tried the shots from outside it was for him to leave and just try to hinder Jake.

Jake didn't know that and was just playing normally, he was prepared for the Portland Trail Blazers to start making fouls just like the Minnesota Timberwolves did.

If that happened, Coach Rambis would replace Shaq who was the target for opponents to make fouls, and Jake would have to try to hit even more shots from outside, if the Portland Trail Blazers team tried to send a player to defend against him in one on one, Jake would continue to attack.

After all, the Minnesota Timberwolves team only managed to find one player to defend against Jake because they had Kevin Garnett on the team, the Portland Trail Blazers team had no such player and Jake would not be intimidated and would continue to attack.

Jake hadn't played a game in which he just tried to make as many points as he could after he joined the Los Angeles Lakers team, this was because he had great teammates and also because Jake knew if he did that the opponent would double-team and he would no longer be able to attack in the game in which he only tried to attack.

Jake didn't think it was necessary after all, even though he played the way he played normally, he managed to make more than 11 assists per game, Jake still managed to score 51 points in one of the games.

In another move the Portland Trail Blazers team was on the attack, Stoudamire advanced the ball and passed it to Rider on the left, Rider received the ball and held it a little before passing it to Grant on the right.

Grant received the ball and Rick came in to press the defense, Grant advanced with the ball using his strength and Rick could not defend well against Grant, Grant advanced a little and tried to make a hook shot to make 2 points for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Grant had the advantage of being able to use his strength in plays against Rick, but Grant also knew that he couldn't try to move too close to the painted area, after all, Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O'Neal were always looking at him and they would stop him.

The game remained balanced and at the end of the first quarter the Los Angeles Lakers team was winning with a small advantage in points, in that first quarter, Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.

"The first quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team is winning the game, this start of the game seemed balanced, but it seems that the Los Angeles Lakers team can play better than that and is using the strategy we know."

"It's true, we could see that Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are playing well in that game and when they are playing well the Los Angeles Lakers team get the win."

"Jake Smith is playing as well as in every game, so in this game, the Los Angeles Lakers team will win if the Portland Trail Blazers team are unable to defend better and not press forward."

"Damon Stoudamire, Isaiah Rider, and Rasheed Wallace are playing better in this game and Stoudamire will have a hard time attacking and defending against Jake, but if the Portland Trail Blazers win this game at the Lakers home they can win this playoff phase. and move forward."

Before the start of the second quarter, Jake looked at the stands and you can see his mother watching the game in the place he had chosen for her, with Eva in the stands Jake was calmer to play and could play better that way.

From what Jake realized in that game the Los Angeles Lakers team could easily win with Shaq and Kobe playing well, the Portland Trail Blazers team could not defend well against the Los Angeles Lakers attack in that first quarter and would have even more difficulty when Jake took the lead. Lakers team to press on the attack.

The second quarter started with the Portland Trail Blazers pressing in attack and defense, they knew they had to work hard if they wanted to win that first game at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers.

But the Los Angeles Lakers team also started to press on the attack and soon everyone realized that in the first quarter the Lakers team was just analyzing the opponent, with the Lakers team's attack pressing on the Portland Trail Blazers' defense barely managed to hold the opponent's attack.

Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Rider came pressing on the defense, Kobe held the ball a little and passed the ball to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and already passed to Jake further back.

Jake received the ball and Stoudamire came in the defense, Jake advanced with the ball and Stoudamire got closer to keep Jake from moving forward, Jake made a feint and a quick crossover to advance from the right.

Stoudamire was deceived and when he realized he tried to continue the defense, but Jake was faster and advanced into the area, Rasheed Wallace saw that Jake was advancing with the ball and came to defend.

Jake did a fast Speed Dribble and advanced closer to the inside area, Wallace still continued in defense and Jake did the unstoppable Spin Move which was LeBron James' move, so Jake did the spin and advanced to do the dunk hard and do 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The fans at the Great Western Forum were excited about this beautiful play by Jake, Shaq, Dennis and Kobe greet Jake for the beautiful play and this increased the spirits of the Los Angeles Lakers team in the game and left the Portland Trail Blazers players discouraged.

Jake started this move thinking of passing the ball to Shaq, but as it was Wallace who came to defend Jake decided to score the 2 points, that was the problem that the defense of the opposing teams had when playing against the Los Angeles Lakers team.

In another move, the Portland Trail Blazers team was on the attack, Stoudamire advanced the ball and passed it to Grant on the right, Grant received the ball and Rick arrived pressing on defense, Grant was one of the best players on the Portland Trail Blazers team and so Rick was pushing hard on defense.

Grant held the ball a little and passed it to Rider on the left, Rider received the ball and Kobe came pressing on the defense, Rider managed to trick Kobe with a feint and advanced to the left, Kobe still managed to react and continued on defense.

Rider made another feint and stepped back and tried a mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the Portland Trail Blazers team, the Portland Trail Blazers players were playing well in that game and were pushing forward.

Even so, the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack was stronger, and the Portland Trail Blazers team could not defend as well as it did in other games, with Shaq, Kobe and Jake playing well it was difficult for the Portland Trail Blazers team to reduce the team advantage Lakers in points.

In another play Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and held it a little before passing to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Rider came pressing on the defense.

Kobe made the low dribble and tried to keep the ball away from Rider, in that play Rider was putting too much pressure on the defense and Kobe could not move forward, Kobe saw Shaq getting rid of the defense and passed the ball to him.

Shaq received the ball and advanced to the painted area, Arvydas Sabonis still managed to recover and tried to continue defending, but Shaq was already advancing and used his strength to keep going and made the dunk and 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

In this game in which Shaq and Kobe were playing well, the Portland Trail Blazers players realized that it would be difficult for them to achieve victory, even so, they had to try because they knew that a victory as a visitor would be important in these playoff games.

If the Portland Trail Blazers team could win 1 game as a visitor and 2 games at home, it would be easier for them to achieve their fourth victory and advance to the next stage of the playoffs.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team managing to further increase the points advantage, in that second quarter Jake played very well and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals.

"The second quarter ends, and the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to win and manages to further increase the advantage in points, the balanced game at the beginning of the game was the strategy that the Lakers team played in almost every game."

"In this second quarter we could see the strength of the attack by the Los Angeles Lakers team that is playing very well, the Portland Trail Blazers team is still trying to defend, but with Shaq, Kobe, and Jake playing well, it will be difficult to stop this attack."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team further increased their points advantage and in this game Coach Rambis does not seem to have the intention of replacing the main players, so the Portland Trail Blazers team will have little opportunity to win."

What the commentators said was what the Portland Trail Blazers players thought, they went into the third quarter knowing that it would be difficult for the Portland Trail Blazers to achieve victory in that game.

Even so, the Portland Trail Blazers team started the third quarter by pressing in attack and defense, they would not give up even though it would be difficult to win the game, coach Rambis realized this and decided not to replace the main players.

With all the main players, the Los Angeles Lakers team remained under pressure in attack, Jake knew that the Lakers team had the advantage and started to slow down the game and take longer in attacking plays.

The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team still winning the game with an even greater advantage in points, so the Portland Trail Blazers team has already given up on winning the game and the Portland Trail Blazers team coach has decided to replace the main players so that they don't get so tired.

Seeing this, Coach Rambis also replaced Shaq and Kobe for a few minutes to save them for the next games, with these replacements the Los Angeles Lakers team dominated the game even more with Jake controlling the game.

At the end of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 104 points against 77 points of the Portland Trail Blazers team, in that game Jake played for 48 minutes and had 32 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, and 10 steals.

"The game is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team get another victory, winning this first game of this phase of the playoffs, the Lakers team has more confidence to play the next game at home."

"The Portland Trail Blazers team played very well in that game and all the players played well, but the Portland Trail Blazers defense was not enough to stop the Los Angeles Lakers' strong attack."

"Brian Grant and Isiah Rider played very well in that game, Damon Stoudamire also played very well, but with Jake Smith playing in defense he was unable to score many points and neither did he make good plays as in other games."

"In the Los Angeles Lakers team Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant played very well in the attack and also helped in defense, Dennis Rodman played well in that game also taking 14 rebounds and helping in defense."

"Jake Smith was once again the highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers team in that victory with another triple-double making 32 points, 12 assists, and 10 steals, Jake was very good in attack and defense and it was essential for the Lakers team to win this I play so easily."

"Let's see if the Portland Trail Blazers team can continue playing well to try to win if the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team continue to play well as in that game then the Portland Trail Blazers team has no chance of winning."

Just as commentators said the Los Angeles Lakers team was the big favorite to win the 4 games and advance to the next stage of the playoffs, even with the quality of the Portland Trail Blazers team it was certain that if the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team played well it was difficult for the Portland Trail Blazers team to win a game.

Jake played well in all games and Shaq played well in most games, so only Kobe was the doubt for the next games if Kobe played well as he did in that game then the Los Angeles Lakers team would certainly continue to win.

After the end of the game Jake met his mother and left for his house with her, Eva was happy that Jake's team had won that game and she hoped it would stay that way for Jake to win the NBA title.

Eva had a lot of confidence in Jake and didn't even expect it to be possible for the Los Angeles Lakers team to be eliminated from these playoffs, Jake knew that and didn't want to disappoint his mother even though he needed his teammates to win.

The next day would be in 2 days and the next day the players would have only light training and could rest a little after this difficult game, the Portland Trail Blazers team was a tough opponent and the Los Angeles Lakers team only won more easily because Jake defended well against Damon Stoudamire who was one of the best players on the opposing team.

Jake ate dinner with his mother and then went to rest early, the next day Jake woke up very early to eat the breakfast with his mother, Jake was happy with Eva preparing the breakfast every morning, he remembered the past when only they lived in Miami.

Mary brought the newspaper to Jake just as she did when she found some news that Jake might be interested in, Jake knew that and looked in the sports section and found the news talking about the Los Angeles Lakers team's victory.

The news talked about the great performance of Jake, Kobe, and Shaq in the game, the members of the sports media said that they hoped the Los Angeles Lakers team would win the next game too and be able to advance to the next one without much difficulty.

Jake was also confident that the Los Angeles Lakers team could win even the games as a visitor, but if Kobe or Shaq didn't play well it would be difficult for the Lakers team to beat the Portland Trail Blazers team that was also doing very well.

After a few hours, Jake went to training and even with light training, he could see that the other players were also very focused and that they also wanted the Los Angeles Lakers team to win.

Soon the day of the second playoff game came, Jake was focused on that game and he left the house after some time that Eva had left, Jake arrived at the Great Western Forum and saw the Los Angeles Lakers team fans arriving.

Los Angeles Lakers fans were expected to fill the Great Western Forum to support the Lakers team, after all the Los Angeles Lakers team was a favorite to win with no playoff losses.

Soon Jake and the players entered the court to start the game, the pressure in that game was on the Portland Trail Blazers team that needed the victory to have more chances to get 4 victories and advance to the next phase of the playoffs.

The Portland Trail Blazers team needed to win that game and then win the next 2 games at home to have 3 wins and try to win the fourth game that would be in Los Angeles, if the Los Angeles Lakers team won that game, they would only need 2 more victories to advance to the next phase.

The game started with the Portland Trail Blazers team pushing forward, the Portland Trail Blazers coach wanted to take advantage of the Los Angeles Lakers team playing the first quarter slower to try to finish the first quarter by winning.

Of course, Jake realized that and he increased the pace of the game for the Los Angeles Lakers to attack more so that the Lakers team ended the first quarter by winning, Jake liked to analyze his opponent in the game, but he knew it was more important to have the advantage in points.

Soon Jake realized that the Portland Trail Blazers team was attacking without relying heavily on Damon Stoudamire and the main players were Isaiah Rider and Brian Grant, so Jake knew the game would be more difficult than the last one because he would not help so much in the game defending.

The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a small points advantage, the game was even and only Jake and the Lakers players knew that the first quarter was really tough and the players were playing really well.

In the second quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team started the game by pushing forward, after all the Lakers team was playing at home and needed this victory to advance to the next phase of the playoffs.

Jake was more excited to see that Kobe was playing very well in that game and Shaq was also playing well, but Kobe was the highlight in the attack and Jake passed the ball over to Kobe to make individual plays.

The crowd knew the Los Angeles Lakers team well and seeing Kobe and Shaq playing well they were excited because they knew the victory was more likely, even with the Portland Trail Blazers team playing better than in the last game, the Portland Trail Blazers players they knew that this game would be difficult.

In this difficult game Dennis was not playing very well and Rick was not playing well either, realizing this, coach Rambis put Robert Horry to play and Jake did not make so many passes for Rick.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning and Kobe being the highlight of the team, but they didn't get a big point advantage and the Portland Trail Blazers players realized they still had a chance to win that game.

The third quarter started with the most disputed game with the Los Angeles Lakers pressing in the attack and the Portland Trail Blazers playing well in defense and also trying to press in the attack.

Jake was playing well in defense, but Stoudamire was not getting as many passes, Jake was standing out in that game getting more rebounds as Dennis was not playing after Robert replaced Dennis.

Jake was also playing well in the attack even though most of the passes he gave to Kobe and Shaq, this was making it more difficult for the Portland Trail Blazers to defend, even so, the Portland Trail Blazers team was attacking well and the game was balanced.

Coach Rambis was concerned about this game and was also concerned because he could not replace Kobe and Shaq as he did in a sequence of games, Coach Rambis knew that this was a difficult game and he could not replace the main players, but he was still afraid that Shaq and Kobe would get hurt.

At the end of the third quarter the Los Angeles Lakers team was still winning the game, but the Lakers team had a small advantage in points that had not increased in that third quarter, because of that the Portland Trail Blazers team would return to the last quarter still trying to get the victory.

The fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team were excited about this difficult game and hoped even more for the Lakers team to defend and attack willingly in the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers players were also trying hard to win this game and so the team had more chances to advance to the next stage of the playoffs.

In the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers team started to press further in the attack and started to make fouls in defense, with the Portland Trail Blazers team making fouls the coach Rambis took Shaq and had to put Rodman back in the game and put Horry playing as Center.

So the Portland Trail Blazers team managed to defend much better against Kobe who was playing well and get Shaq out of the game, as Shaq was also playing well, but with the departure of Shaq, the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team was also better.

With the fouls, the Portland Trail Blazers team was managing to diminish the advantage in points and saw the opportunity to win the game, Jake realized this and understood that he had to try harder to guarantee this victory.

With Eva watching the game Jake was more confident, and the players of both teams were very tired from this difficult game, so Jake, who was not so tired, knew he had the advantage at the end of the game.

In a play Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe Bryant on the right, Kobe received the ball and Isaiah Rider came pressing on defense, Kobe was out of the three-point line and tried a feint to advance it.

Kobe wanted to move forward, but Jake called for the ball back again because he knew Rider would miss if Kobe advanced into the 3-point line, Kobe passed the ball to Jake further back and Stoudamire was on the defense.

Jake was far from the three-point line, but he had confidence and tried a shot from outside 35 feet and hit to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, with this move the Lakers team got another 3 points advantage and could breathe easier.

In another move the Portland Trail Blazers team was on the attack trying to diminish that advantage in points again, Stoudamire advanced with the ball and passed to Grant on the right, Grant received the ball and Rick arrived pressing in defense.

Grant tried to advance the ball using his strength, but this time Rick was defending and wanted to prevent Grant from moving forward, the Portland Trail Blazers team did not have much time for Grant to use in the possession and so he passed it to Rider on the left.

Rider received the ball and Kobe came pressing on defense, Rider started to do low dribble preventing Kobe from trying to steal, Rider tried a feint going to the right and Kobe retreated, so Rider did a step back.

Rider tricked Kobe and went outside the three-point line, in that game Rider was hitting a lot of 3-point shots just like Jake, after Jake's move, he wanted to make 3 points to decrease the advantage in points.

Rider stepped back and tried the shot from outside, but he didn't know that Jake expected Rider to do that and stop defending against Stoudamire and try to stop this attack, Rider jump to try the shot outside and Jake came right after and did the block.

Rider didn't expect Jake to make that block at the end of the game in a quick move like that, besides, Rider didn't even notice that Jake was approaching to try the block, Jake made the block and the ball went out.

The crowd was excited at the Great Western Forum with this block by Jake and realizing that the victory was close, the Portland Trail Blazers team still had possession of the ball, but it was only 6 seconds away and the pressure was even greater after this block by Jake.

Rider passed the ball to Stoudamire further back and the Portland Trail Blazers team had to decide to play before the end of possession, Shaq was playing again in that end game and Robert was playing as a PF.

Jake was defending against Stoudamire and the players of the Portland Trail Blazers team were attentive with Jake in this play, Stoudamire passed the ball to Grant who was on the right, Grant received the ball and has already advanced to the inside area.

Rick tried to defend and hinder Grant who was advancing, Grant advanced using force being careful not to make a mistake and passed the ball to Arvydas Sabonis later on, Sabonis received the ball and Shaq was pressing in defense.

The ball possession time was ending and Sabonis made the spin and tried the layup, Shaq who was defending jump and made the block rejecting Sabonis' attack, after this Shaq block the ball was still left for Jake who took the rebound and advanced with the ball to attack using his speed.

The defense of the Portland Trail Blazers team was unable to keep up with Jake's speed, who advanced for the attack alone, Jake advanced and scored 2 more points with a reverse dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team cheering up the crowd.

With this sequence of 2 blocks made by Shaq and Jake, the Portland Trail Blazers players became discouraged, the game continued with the Lakers team attacking and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the second game of this phase of the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 108 points against 98 points for the Portland Trail Blazers, in that game Jake played for 48 minutes and had 35 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, 7 steals, and 1 block.

"The game is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to win that game and this is the Lakers team's second victory in 2 games of this playoff phase, with 2 more victories the Los Angeles Lakers team advances to the West Conference Finals."

"This game was much more balanced and the Los Angeles Lakers team only guaranteed victory at the end of the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers team was playing very well in this game with the great performance of Brian Grant and Isaiah Rider and without relying heavily on Damon Stoudamire."

"Throughout the season Stoudamire was the main player on the team and who has the most points, but with Jake Smith defending against him, Stoudamire did not play well in this game or in the last game, the Portland Trail Blazers team coach realized this and that game the attack was much better."

"Jake still defended well with a lot of steals, but it didn't help as much as in the last game and so the Portland Trail Blazers team almost managed to win differently from the last game in which the Los Angeles Lakers team won by almost 30 points."

"In the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers team tried to use the strategy of making fouls to disrupt the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team and not give the opponent much time in possession of the ball."

"With this strategy, Shaquille O'Neal, who was doing well in the game, was replaced so as not to be the target of the opponent's fouls, so the Portland Trail Blazers team almost managed to win the game."

"But the Los Angeles Lakers team was also playing very well in that game, Kobe Bryant was the highlight of the team in the attack with 32 points until the last quarter, at the end of the game Jake made a beautiful shot of 3 points from 35 feet and then managed a block."

"Shaq made another block in the same play and Jake scored 2 more points with a reverse dunk, those 3 plays increased the Los Angeles Lakers team's advantage by 5 points and it was the final blow against the Portland Trail Blazers team that was tired."

"With the third triple-double in 3 games Jake Smith was again the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers team despite the excellent performance of Kobe Bryant, Jake is being instrumental in these Los Angeles Lakers team victories."

This difficult game ended with another victory for the Los Angeles Lakers team that the fans celebrated even more than the last victory, the fans were even more confident that this season the Los Angeles Lakers team could win the NBA title.

The players of the Los Angeles Lakers team and coach Rambis were happy with this victory and knew that they had fulfilled their role in the 2 home games of this playoff phase, now the mission was to win 2 more games against the strong Portland Trail Blazers team.

The next 2 games would be with the Portland Trail Blazers team playing at home and would be even more difficult, but if the Los Angeles Lakers team managed only 1 victory in those 2 games as a visitor they would play the fifth game of that phase at home and could have it easier winning the 4 games.

Jake was excited about this victory and was excited because everything that was happening was different from what he remembered in his past life, the Los Angeles Lakers team had won both home games and needed only 2 more victories to advance to the next phase.

At that end of the game, Jake had to try harder and only managed to play calmly because he knew that his mother was watching the game in the stands, in the next games Jake would also play with more confidence for what he did at the end of the game.

Jake left for his house with his mother after the game, the next game would be only after 3 days and the players would have 2 days to rest before the next game, that was good because the Los Angeles Lakers team didn't have to travel afterward of the game and could travel after 2 days.

The other day Jake woke up very early and soon saw the news in the newspapers about the last game, the sports media was commenting on how the Portland Trail Blazers team played much better in this second game than in the first game.

Even with Kobe Bryant doing his best in those playoffs and with Shaquille O'Neal playing well the Los Angeles Lakers team still struggled to win playing at home, Jake was important at the end of the game for the Lakers team to win.

This showed that the Portland Trail Blazers team was able to beat the Los Angeles Lakers team even though all the players were playing very well, so in these next games if Kobe or Shaq are not playing well the Lakers team can lose.

After seeing the news Jake called Kate to talk to her about the latest games, Jake didn't call after the game because Kate was doing a show and he had to wait another day to talk to her.

Jake was eager to be able to win the next games and advance to the NBA Finals so that Kate could watch his games together with his mother, so Jake would have even more confidence to have the best performance and be able to bring the NBA title to the Los team Angeles Lakers and for his career.

After the start of the playoffs, all the companies that had a contract with Jake had published the commercials that Jake recorded a few months ago, even Adidas did not wait and launched the 2 sneakers with the Jake brand.

Adidas' sales and marketing team realized that this was Jake's most popular moment in the NBA, so this would be a great time to launch the two sneakers he represented.

Just as it was expected when the JKS Velocity 1 and JKS 1 sneakers were released they were sold quickly, the Los Angeles Lakers fans who became Jake fans this season wanted to buy some product that Jake represented and could not find.

So with the launch of the JKS 1 sneaker, fans were finally able to buy a sneaker that Jake represented, many Tar Heels fans and NBA fans also bought these new sneakers that Jake represented.

Even those who didn't like basketball bought the JKS Velocity 1 because they were Jake fans, so Adidas was very happy with the investment of having a 52 million dollar contract with Jake, after all, the sales of these sneakers were just the beginning of the company's profit.

Because of Jake and Kobe Bryant, many fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team started to like Adidas more than Nike, this was significant for a big company like Nike to lose as many fans as the Los Angeles Lakers team had in the world.

In Europe and Asia, sales were higher than Adidas expected even though the NBA was not so popular on these continents when Nike realized that they would regret even more for not having signed with Jake and Kobe in the past.

Jake was happy that he had no commitment at the time of the playoffs when he needed to focus on the games, the deals he did were also settled and Jake didn't have to worry until the end of the year.

Even with the Los Angeles Lakers team not having to play in the next 2 days they would still have one day of training and another day of rest, Coach Rambis was concerned that Shaq and Kobe could be injured with this intense sequence of games.