Chapter 509 - Change in Los Angeles Lakers Team 7 (1/2)
In another move Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and Washington came to press on defense, Fox held the ball a little and passed it to Bryant on the right.
Bryant received the ball and Billups came to press on defense, so Bryant tried a feint, but Billups was not fooled, so Bryant passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and with a feint, he managed to get rid of the opposing defense.
Van Exel was able to react quickly, but Jake was faster and advanced into the area, Jake advanced and the Denver Nuggets team's defense didn't know how they could stop Jake, so Jake took advantage of that opportunity and passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal.
Raef LaFrentz was not close to O'Neal in that play, so O'Neal advanced and scored another 2 points with a dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team, O'Neal was happy to score his first points in that game.
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers team played so well Shaquille O'Neal thought he could score more points in the last games, in the first games of the season he scored more than 30 points in several games, but in the last games, he failed to score 30 points.
Shaquille O'Neal knew that with the whole team playing well it was more difficult than he had so many opportunities to score more points, but Jake was scoring more than 30 points in every game, and in most games, Jake was trying fewer attacks than he was.
Of course, the biggest reason for that was that Jake scored a lot on three-point shots, so Jake needed less attack than he did to score 30 points, Shaquille O'Neal was happy with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the games and also thought that Jake was doing a great job as a PG.
For Shaquille O'Neal the most important thing was to win the NBA title at the end of the season, so he was more dissatisfied with his performance in the games than with the performance of his teammates.
The Denver Nuggets team soon went on the attack, Van Exel advanced with the ball and went to Washington on the right, Washington received the ball and Fox arrived to press in defense, Washington held the ball a little and passed to Billups on the left.
Billups received the ball and Bryant came to press on defense, Billups did not hold the ball and passed the ball to Antonio McDyess later on, McDyess received the ball and Travis Knight came to press on defense.
McDyess managed to spin and tried the hook to make 2 more points for the Denver Nuggets team, the Denver Nuggets team was pushing in the attack and the game was balanced and this impressed the crowd that did not expect the Denver Nuggets team to play so well.
The first quarter ended with the Denver Nuggets team winning by 2 points, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake started playing well in that game too.
”The first quarter ends and the Denver Nuggets team is surprising everyone and winning the game so far with a 2 point advantage, due to the performance of the two teams in the season so far, everyone hoped that the Los Angeles Lakers team would be winning this game.”
”It's true, but we also have to say that the Denver Nuggets team is playing very well in this game, it is a different game than the last one that the players of the Denver Nuggets team did and that is why they are getting this game balanced.”
”Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers team is also playing well, even though some players don't seem to be playing as well as in other games, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Jake Smith are playing well as in all games and are keeping the balanced game.”
”The players who are playing best on the Denver Nuggets team are Antonio McDyess and Chauncey Billups, on the Los Angeles Lakers team Rick Fox and Travis Knight is not playing as well as in other games.”
”It is good news for the Los Angeles Lakers team that Robert Horry may return in the next games, and the Los Angeles Lakers team is negotiating to sign NBA title winner 5-time Dennis Rodman.”
”I don't know if hiring Dennis Rodman can be a good thing for the Los Angeles Lakers team because of the personal problems that Dennis Rodman has, but it will definitely be a good PF that the Los Angeles Lakers team needs.”
This was a tough game for the Los Angeles Lakers team and Jake knew he had to try harder in that game if he wanted to win, but coach Del Harris thought that in that game Shaquille O'Neal had to rest for a few minutes.
So in this second quarter and in the other quarters, Coach Harris wanted to replace Shaquille O'Neal for a few minutes, which would certainly make things more difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win, luckily Coach Harris did not intend to replace other players.
The Denver Nuggets team started in the attack in the second quarter, Van Exel advanced with the ball and went to Washington on the right, Washington received the ball and Fox came to press on defense, Washington tried a feint and got rid of the defense and tried a shot from mid-range to make 2 more points for the Denver Nuggets team.