Chapter 481 - NBA Season Begins 5 (1/2)
After this attack by the Houston Rockets team, the game became more balanced and Pippen did not try so many more attacks in the game and make some mid-range shots when needed, in the attack the Los Angeles Lakers team was counting on Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal who were playing well like that Jake didn't get many passes.
Jake knew this could happen in a team with so many talented players, so he just played his part and made assists when he saw the opportunity, after a move by the Los Angeles Lakers team in the attack, the ball was left for Kobe Bryant.
He was playing well in the game and tried to make the three-point shot, the shot was very short and Jake who was attentive in the play managed to catch the rebound, Jake caught the ball and then hooked to make 2 more points for the team Los Angeles Lakers.
In another play, Fisher received the ball with a few seconds to end possession, and realizing these two players from the Houston Rockets' team went to press Kobe Bryant and Hakeem Olajuwon pressured Shaquille O'Neal in defense as well.
So Fisher passed the ball to Jake from the left, Jake received the ball and tried the shot from outside even with Pippen very close to him, Jake managed to hit the first three-point shot in the NBA and that was his seventh point in the second quarter that was ending.
The Houston Rockets team still wanted to reduce the advantage to have a chance to win in the second half of the game, so Matt Maloney advanced with the ball and passed to Charles Barkley who was being the best player of his team in the game.
Barkley easily passed Blount and tried to advance to make the layup, but Shaquille O'Neal appeared to try the block, seeing that Barkley reacted quickly and passed the ball to Olajuwon who was free in the play.
Olajuwon received the ball and when he thought about making the dunk Jake appeared and did the steal with great skill, it was a move that Jake made several times in the training of imagination playing several times against Centers that were high and had SS in various abilities as Olajuwon should have.
Jake couldn't catch the ball after the steal and it was Kobe Bryant who took the ball and held the ball to calm the players, Bryant passed the ball to Fisher and everyone went on the attack, the crowd was excited about this Los Angeles team defense Lakers and Olajuwon still did not believe that Jake steal him.
Fisher advanced with the ball and passed it to Jake before the three-point line, this time Pippen pressed on defense not to let Jake make the move, Jake saw that Kobe Bryant had got rid of the defense and passed the ball to him.
So Bryant received the ball and tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Bryant also thanked Jake for the good assistance after he made a steal.
The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team with a good lead on the scoreboard that only increased in that second quarter, Jake managed to make 7 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal.
Coach Harris also realized this was happening, but he didn't say anything to the other players because Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were already making a lot of points for the team in that game.
”Thus ends the second quarter of the game, Jake continues to make a great debut game and has already scored 13 points in the first half of the game, the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team are not passing the ball so much to Jake and he is depending on the rebounds him to make the stitches.”
”The Los Angeles Lakers team is playing very well in this game with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant already making 33 points together, so it is normal that they would rather pass the ball to both of them than to Jake who is a rookie and is playing in an improvised position.”
”Of course, he would receive more passes at the end of the game if the Los Angeles Lakers team secured the victory, but he has already made 13 points despite receiving few passes, this shows the skills of Jake who is also very good in defense, not allowing Scottie Pippen make lots of points.”
Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team were also enjoying Jake's first game on the team, they had already realized that Coach Harris had put him to play as SF which was not his position, and even then Jake was having an excellent game.
The Houston Rockets team coach was in a difficult situation, Pippen who was one of the best defenders on the team was defending against Jake and even though he had scored 13 points in the game, it showed that Jake really had the skills.
In the third quarter, the Houston Rockets team tried to attack more to still fight for the victory, but even the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team was not very strong they still defended well with Jake, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal.
And the Lakers' team was also attacking and maintaining the advantage on the scoreboard with good plays from O'Neal and Bryant, Jake was never replaced after having a conversation with Coach Harris saying he could handle playing the entire game.
Coach Harris really had no one to put Jake in position with Rick Fox or being on the Lakers team's bench, and Coach Harris naturally had plenty of time to watch Jake's games in that lockout and knew Jake was never replaced in almost every game of his second season on the Tar Heels team.