Chapter 558 - The Playoffs 8

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."