Chapter 510 Change in Los Angeles Lakers Team 8
In the third quarter, the Denver Nuggets team had to keep pressing in attack to try to win the game, but it was the Los Angeles Lakers team that started strong in attack and also in defense.
Even with Coach Harris replacing Shaquille O'Neal for a few minutes in all quarters, Jake was still able to organize his attacks well and Nick Van Exel was unable to defend well against him in that game.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and Billups came to press on defense, Bryant held the ball before passing to Fox on the left, Fox was not playing so well in this game, but he was still helping the team Los Angeles Lakers with several points and defending too.
Fox received the ball and Washington came to press in defense, Fox tried a feint, but Washington was not deceived and stood firm in defense, so Fox decided to pass the ball back to Jake.
Jake received the ball and Van Exel came to press on defense, Jake made a feint and step back and tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers, Van Exel didn't even have a chance to hinder Jake in this play.
The Denver Nuggets team was not doing so well in the third quarter, the players were missing a lot of attacks and with the Los Angeles Lakers team realizing that they were putting even more pressure on the defense.
The Denver Nuggets team went on the attack and Van Exel advanced to the attack and passed the ball to Billups on the left, Billups received the ball and Bryant pressed the defense, so Billups decided to pass the ball to Washington on the right.
Washington received the ball and saw that Van Exel was free and decided to pass the ball to him, but Jake hoped for that and managed to intercept Washington's pass, Jake took the ball and advanced with speed to attack.
Van Exel was the last player in the Denver Nuggets team's defense and tried to accompany Jake to defend against him, but Jake was faster and Van Exel was unable to follow, Jake advanced to the painted area and scored 2 more points with the dunk for the team Los Angeles Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets team could not attack as well as in other quarters and the Los Angeles Lakers did not miss the opportunity to further increase the advantage in points that they had in the game.
The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a big lead on the scoreboard, Jake played for 12 minutes in that third quarter and had 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.
In the last quarter, the Denver Nuggets team came back much better as it was in the initials quarters, but the advantage of the Los Angeles Lakers team was already very large and the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team remained good and the Denver Nuggets team was unable to reverse the score.
The Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 116 points against 99 points from the Denver Nuggets team, Jake played for 12 minutes in the last quarter and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, thus achieving another double-double.
"And so this great game that we had ended, the Denver Nuggets team played a great game surprising everyone, but the Los Angeles Lakers team still managed their tenth victory this season."
"Really, the Denver Nuggets team played really well, but the Los Angeles Lakers team has the best attack this season and has won 10 of the 11 games they have had this season."
"It is even more amazing to remember that this season we will only have 50 games, so we have had more than 20 percent of the games this season and the Los Angeles Lakers team has only one defeat."
"Yes, Jake Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant played very well and it was important for the Los Angeles Lakers team to get another victory in that balanced game."
The Los Angeles Lakers team had made a great start to the season and the sports media increasingly thought they had a team that could win the NBA title this season.
After the end of the game, the reporters came to interview some players from the Los Angeles Lakers team, this time the players wanted to talk to the reporters, one of the reporters approached Shaquille O'Neal first to speak with him.
"Hi Shaq, what do you think of the Lakers team's performance so far this season?"
"I'm very happy, we started this season very well with just one defeat so far, Jake's entry into the team helped our team to achieve these victories, I think with more games the team will have the players even more in touch and we will play the games even better."
"And what do you think about Coach Harris starting to replace you and the other players in the games so that you don't get tired?"
"I feel like I could play longer in that game and of course I don't like being replaced, but this season is really having a lot of games and I and the other players don't have that much time to rest."
"I think Coach Harris knows what he's doing and as long as our team gets the win I don't mind playing a few minutes less."
"Shaq, you talked about Jake, what do you think about his joining the Lakers team?"
"I think Jake is an excellent player, he debuted this season and he adapted very well to the NBA and our team too, he is really an incredible player with that average points and assists he gets."
"Jake has managed to do 5 triple-double this season which is quite impressive, I think he is the best rookie of this season and one of the best players in the NBA today."
After the reporters spoke to Shaquille O'Neal they went to talk to Jake, it wasn't at all games that players did interviews, and with these victories, the Los Angeles Lakers team was one of the most sought after media teams.
"Hi, Jake, you have been making one of the best debuts as a player in NBA history, what have you thought of your debut season on the Lakers team so far?"
"I am very happy with the season we have had so far, I have always been a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers team and have always dreamed of playing for this team, I am doing my best to help the team win and I am happy that this has happened."
"Playing with great players like Shaq and Kobe has been very good, making assists have been easier playing with them, Rick is also playing very well and it helps me to perform better."
"Jake, the game you had against the Seattle SuperSonics team was talked about a lot because you played against Gary Payton who is one of the best PG in NBA history, what did you think of this game?"
"It was a great honor to play against Gary Payton in that game, he is one of my idols in the NBA, the game was very difficult because Payton defends very well, I had to work very hard to defend against him and I couldn't even try many steals in that game."
"Even with my efforts Payton still played very well and scored a lot, I was also happy to play against Scottie Pippen and against John Stockton who are also idols that I have."
"The truth is that most of the games that I have this season will be against great idols that I have, and I will try even harder to perform well in those games."
The reporters were satisfied with the interviews and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team left the Arena and returned to the hotel, everyone was tired and happy with the victory in that game, they were not playing away from home so they were facing teams that were not having a good season.
But these games were surprisingly difficult, so players would not underestimate the next opponent after the players rested for a few hours, the Los Angeles Lakers team board decided to make the trip that night.
So the players left the hotel and took the plane to Vancouver, British Columbia where they would play the next game as a visitor, arriving in Vancouver the players went to the hotel reserved to rest for the next game that would be the next day.
The game happened the next day, the Los Angeles Lakers team came prepared for a difficult game, the game would be against the Vancouver Grizzlies team that had 6 losses and only 3 victories in the 9 games that they had this season.
It would be Jake's first official game playing against Mike Bibby who was a friend of his, in that game the Los Angeles Lakers team was not playing well, Coach Harris also looked different because this was perhaps his last game at the helm of the team.
In the Vancouver Grizzlies team, Shareef Abdur-Rahim played very well and Mike Bibby also played a good game, fortunately with Jake's great effort the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to win the game making 94 points against 91 of the Vancouver Grizzlies team.
Shaquille O'Neal also played very well defensively in that game and managed a double-double with 10 rebounds, O'Neal also made 6 blocks and 2 steals in that game, with which the Los Angeles Lakers team won 11 games in 12 games this season.
After another victory the Los Angeles Lakers team was fine, but Jake realized that coach Del Harris would be fired, Jake was not happy about it and was worried about playing with coach Phil Jackson, because he might not adapt to the strategy to play in an offensive triangle.
After the end of that game, Jake told Coach Del Harris that he would return to Los Angeles and head to the next game in Los Angeles, Coach Harris knew Jake was in the good physical condition and didn't even know if he would continue to be team coach then allowed.
Jake flew to Los Angeles the same day because the next day he would go to the Grammys to hope for Kate's victory, Jake was used to flying and arriving at his house very late to rest.