Chapter 578 - West Conference Finals 8
Jake was calm knowing that his mother would come on game day to watch, Jake had already ordered a hotel prepared for Eva who would have to stay a few days in San Antonio because the Lakers team would play 2 games in the city.
Jake was very excited for the game that would happen the next day, he saw in the last training before the team game that his teammates were much more rested after these almost 4 days of rest.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal looked confident after so many comfortable wins they had, they knew that if the Los Angeles Lakers team won one more of those two away games they would have a great chance to advance to the next round.
After all, players had finished dinner Coach Rambis asked all players to gather in the hotel's meeting hall because he wanted to talk to everyone before the next game.
"Conference Finals, very important for you to remember that we are in the Conference Finals, after this phase of the playoffs are champions, and if we are Conference Champions, we can go to the NBA Finals and we will try to become NBA Champions."
"Of the 29 teams in the NBA, we are one of the top four, out of all the players, you are in the top 100, that's something for our team to be proud of, but you shouldn't be satisfied with just that."
"You are playing for the Los Angeles Lakers team, one of the best teams in NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers team was 11 times NBA Champion, it's been 11 years since the last time, don't you think it's time for the Los Angeles team Lakers to be champion again?"
"I look at this team and I honestly see the best team this season in the NBA, I see here some players who could be MVP this season, so I don't see why we couldn't be champions this season in the NBA."
"The next 2 games will be the most important of this Conference Finals, if we win one game as a visitor we will have almost guaranteed our place in the NBA Finals."
"So try to win tomorrow's game so the pressure will all go on the San Antonio Spurs team, maybe if we win tomorrow we can win the next game too and we'll go back to Los Angeles just to wait for the NBA Finals."
Coach Rambis' speech served to further cheer the players up and show how important the next game would be, if the Los Angeles Lakers team won the next game, they would only need one win to advance to the NBA Finals.
If the San Antonio Spurs team lost the next game, they would need a miracle to win the next 4 games in a row to advance to the NBA Finals, so the pressure would all go on the San Antonio Spurs team if the Los Angeles Lakers team made it.
Soon the game day arrived, Jake ate a reinforced breakfast along with Rick and Kobe, after a few hours Jake got a call from Eva that she had already arrived in San Antonio and was resting at the hotel before heading to the game.
After a few more hours the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the Alamodome, the San Antonio Spurs fans came to support the team and fill the Alamodome, fans knew that if the San Antonio team lost it would be difficult to advance to the NBA Finals.
Jake put on his uniform and then went with the Los Angeles Lakers team to the court to warm up, so soon it was time for the game to start, the Los Angeles Lakers team was calmer and the San Antonio Spurs players felt more pressured.
The Los Angeles Lakers team would start the game with Jake playing PG, Kobe Bryant playing SG, Rick Fox playing SF, Dennis Rodman playing PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing Center.
The San Antonio Spurs team would start the game with Avery Johnson playing PG, Mario Elie playing SG, Sean Elliott playing SF, Tim Duncan playing PF, and David Robinson playing Center.
The two teams were equal, after all these were the best players the two coaches had for this game, coach Gregg Popovich would have to keep the same strategy from the last game as well and hope that Kobe Bryant and Rick Fox had a poor performance in the game.
After all, coach Gregg Popovich knew he couldn't just defend against Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers attacking plays near the painted area, the San Antonio Spurs team also needed 2 players to prevent Jake from having the freedom to try to make multiple attacks of three points.
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch this third game of the Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers team won the first 2 games playing at home, so if the Los Angeles Lakers team gets the third win today, it will be very difficult for the San team. Antonio Spurs advance to the NBA Finals."
"It's true, the Los Angeles Lakers team did what they were supposed to do and won the two home games, now with one win as a visitor, the Los Angeles Lakers team practically guarantees a spot in the NBA Finals this season and they can try to win again after 11 years old."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team is favorite to advance to the NBA Finals and if they advance to the NBA Finals the Los Angeles Lakers team will be favorite to win the NBA title this season."
"That's right, the San Antonio Spurs team has an obligation to win at least this home game, if they lose the next game the pressure wouldn't be as great as losing this first home game."
"The San Antonio Spurs team couldn't find a way to stop the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack, and in this game, they must try to find a way to stop Jake Smith from scoring too many points and also stop the Los Angeles Lakers team from trying to make plays in the painted area."
"So they have to count that Rick Fox and Kobe Bryant aren't performing well in this game, just so they can try to get the win."
Just as commentators told the San Antonio Spurs team knew it would be difficult to win this game, they would try to do the same strategy as in the last game and would have to hope that Kobe and Rick didn't perform well.
Soon the game started and the San Antonio Spurs team started pressing forward, coach Kurt Rambis already knew that the San Antonio Spurs team would do that and trained more the Los Angeles Lakers team players to defend better.
With the pressure on the defense from the Los Angeles Lakers team, the San Antonio Spurs team had more difficulty attacking, but they still managed a good play and Tim Duncan scored the first 2 points with a layup for the San Antonio Spurs team.
The Los Angeles Lakers team soon went to the attack to try for a draw and after a good play, Jake passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal who made the hook and made the first 2 points of the Los Angeles Lakers team tying the game.
Both teams were pressing on offense and defense and even so the attacks were managing to score points, so the start of the first quarter was well balanced with the game tied most of the time.
Jake who saw this knew that if this kept happening it could be better for the San Antonio Spurs team, so Jake decided to start making more individual plays and trying more three-point shots.
Jake started to use his speed and technique to move quickly outside the three-point line and when he got open a space he tried a shot from outside and scored three points, Jake managed to make 3 plays of three points and thus made 9 points and so the Los Angeles Lakers team was ahead on the scoreboard with a slight advantage.
Jake's good plays cheered his teammates up and left San Antonio Spurs fans at the Alamodome worried, soon after the first quarter ended, the Los Angeles Lakers team won with a slight points advantage.
"The first quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team is winning thanks to some good plays from Jake Smith, it really impresses the hit percentage Jake has on the three-point line."
"It's true, the game was balanced until Jake decided to try some three-point shots, even with two players defending against him, Jake still managed open space using his speed, and even so he didn't miss any attempt and scored 12 points in this first quarter."
"The San Antonio Spurs team will have to try to score more points and miss fewer attacks to try to regain the advantage in points, after all, they already have two players defending against Jake, the San Antonio Spurs team can't defend even better against Jake."
What the commentators were saying was true, Jake started trying to run harder to try to find open space to try the three-point shots, and with that, Rick Fox had even more freedom to attack without anyone defending against him.
Also, Jake was still able to hit three-point shots from far away from the three-point line, so the 2 players who were defending against him couldn't relax in defense even for a moment.
The Los Angeles Lakers team still tried to put pressure on the defense, but Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and Jaren Jackson who came in during the game were very good in attack and the Los Angeles Lakers team's defense, which was not so good, could not stop the attacks. of the San Antonio Spurs team.