Chapter 553 - The Playoffs 3

"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.