Chapter 561 West Conference Semifinals 1
Jake went after a few hours to do training with the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake could see that his teammates were excited about the win, but they were also tired from the last few games.
Of course, the players wanted to play all the playoff games as long as they could, after all, besides being important for the team, it was also important for their career, so the players were trying hard in training even though they were tired.
Jake was not so worried because he thought that with those 2 days without a game the players would be able to rest well before the next game if Shaq and Kobe continued playing well, the Los Angeles Lakers team could win the 4 games and advance to the next phase.
The San Antonio Spurs team was having more difficulty and lost the first game and won the second game against the Utah Jazz team, so regardless of which team progressed in that phase the Los Angeles Lakers team would have more time to rest if they won the 4 games without losing no game.
Jake no longer knew what could happen in the next games because it was different from what happened in his past life, so Jake just hoped that Kobe and Shaq would continue to perform well in the next games.
Not only Shaq and Kobe but also Dennis and Rick were important for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win in the next games, Rick and Dennis were not playing very well in that last game and therefore the game was more difficult for the Lakers team to win.
After training Jake returned to his house and the next day the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team could rest, the next day Jake and Eva left Los Angeles to go to Portland, Oregon.
The directors of the Los Angeles Lakers team decided it was best for the Lakers players to travel to Portland, Oregon the day before the game so they wouldn't get too tired, so Eva also went to Portland, Oregon by helicopter with a hotel room ready for her.
The other day game day came and the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the Rose Garden to play the next game, Jake can see the Portland Trail Blazers fans coming to the Rose Garden waiting for the Portland Trail Blazers to win.
In the last games, the Portland Trail Blazers team played very well and the games were balanced, as were all the games between the two teams throughout the season, just as Jake hoped the Portland Trail Blazers team was a tough opponent.
Even more in this game that the Portland Trail Blazers team would play at home with the confidence of the last game that they almost managed to win, Jake hoped that the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team were playing well and so he would try harder for the Lakers team achieve victory.
In that game the Los Angeles Lakers team would start the game with Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, 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, Brian Grant playing as SF, Rasheed Wallace playing as PF, and Arvydas Sabonis playing as Center.
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch this game this NBA season, this is the third game of this phase of the playoffs and it is the first game here at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, so the Portland Trail Blazers team is more likely to win that game."
"In the 2 games of the West Conference Semifinal, the Los Angeles Lakers team won the victory playing at home and having a great performance from the players of both teams, in the second game the Portland Trail Blazers team almost won."
"Jake Smith is the main highlight of this Lakers team and also the highlight of this season, Jake performed well in all games in those playoffs, and it was very important for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win at the end of the last game."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team has the best attack of this season, and besides Jake, they have excellent players like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and in that, the Lakers team has the advantage because the Portland Trail Blazers team does not have such outstanding players."
"The highlight of the Portland Trail Blazers team is all the players and the coach, without any highlight, the Portland Trail Blazers team arrived in these playoffs as one of the best teams because the players have a good relationship and achieve good performances."
"We will follow in this game if the Portland Trail Blazers team wins the victory playing at home or if the Los Angeles Lakers team will win this game more and get closer to progressing to the next phase."
As commentators said, even with the Los Angeles Lakers team having won 2 games, the advantage in that game was the Portland Trail Blazers team, after all in the last 2 games the Portland Trail Blazers team lost more players played very well.
So playing at home, the Portland Trail Blazers team had a better chance of winning that first game, even with Shaq and Kobe playing very well, if the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team the chances of the Portland Trail Blazers team winning increase.
The game started with Shaquille O'Neal winning the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who started organizing the first attack of the game, Jake advanced the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant on the right.
Kobe received the ball and Isaiah Rider came on to defend, Kobe was one of the best players in the Los Angeles Lakers team in the last game with 32 points and just wasn't the best because Jake was more important at the end of the game and made a triple-double.
So Kobe had more confidence in this game and he would not try so hard because he was more tired, Kobe held the ball for a while and passed it to Rick Fox on the left, Rick received the ball and Brian Grant came pressing on the defense.
Rick tried a feint and Grant was not deceived and continued in defense, Rick was not playing very well in this phase of the playoffs because Grant was defending well against him, even though Rick knew he was helping the team by making more than 10 points per game and not allowing the Portland Trail Blazers to double-team Jake and Kobe.
Rick gave up on the individual move and passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Damon Stoudamire came in pressing on the defense, Jake advanced with the ball and did a quick crossover and advanced on the left.
Stoudamire was not so close to Jake and managed to react after being duped and continued on defense, Jake change of pace and advanced with the ball on the right and this unbalanced Stoudamire who fell to the ground.
Jake continued to advance with speed after the beautiful play and Arvydas Sabonis arrived to defend, Sabonis went to defend against Jake even though he knew he would pass the ball to Shaq, but different from what Sabonis thought Jake drive to the basket and made the 2 points with a dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Sabonis still tried to defend, but he didn't want to miss and Jake attacked too fast and Jake's play was unexpected for him, and for Shaq also waiting for the pass, the Portland Trail Blazers fans did not like the play, but the fans respected Jake's ability.
Stoudamire was a little embarrassed after the ankle break play on the last move, but he tried to keep defending even though he knew Jake's speed was higher and after 2 dribble he lost his balance and fell.
In another move the Portland Trail Blazers team was on the attack and Stoudamire was organizing the attack, Stoudamire advanced with the ball and passed to Rider on the left, Rider received the ball and Kobe came pressing on the defense.
Rider tried to deceive Kobe with a feint, but Kobe was not deceived and Rider had to pass the ball to Grant from the right, Grant received the ball and Rick arrived pressing in defense, in the last 2 games Grant was one of the best players on the Portland Trail team Blazers and he was confident in that game too.
Grant advanced with the ball using his strength and Rick couldn't stop Grant, Grant made a feint and Rick retreated, so Grant tried a mid-range shot to score 2 points for the Portland Trail Blazers.
The game started out balanced just like the last games, in that game Kobe and Shaq were playing well and so Jake was hoping to get the win, but Jake realized that Kobe and Shaq were not playing as well as in the last games and if the Portland Trail Blazers team played as well as in the last game they could win.
Jake knew that the biggest weakness of the Los Angeles Lakers team was the coach Rambis, the Los Angeles Lakers team achieved several victories with the players having an excellent performance and achieving the victory for the Lakers team.
When they lost it was when Shaq or Kobe were not playing well and the opponent was playing well, this was because the opponent knew the weaknesses of the Los Angeles Lakers team and Coach Rambis could not change the team's playing style if Shaq and Kobe did not. were playing well.
The Portland Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy managed to do this very well this season and managed to get the Portland Trail Blazers team into the playoffs even though the team had no such prominent player.
In another move, 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 kept the ball doing the low dribble and Rider continued in defense, Kobe jab stepped and Rider did not react, so Kobe took the opportunity to advance from the right using his speed and Rider was slow to react.
Kobe advanced with the ball and nobody went to defend against him, so Kobe drive to the basket and made the layup and 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.