Chapter 537 - Sequence of Difficult Games 7 (1/2)
So it was normal for Jake to become one of the crowd's favorite players, the people who criticized the Los Angeles Lakers team for swapping Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell and Derek Harper had disappeared and everyone praised Jerry West for yet another good choice for the Lakers team.
Soon Jake and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the court for the game to start, the opponent in that game was the New York Knicks team, this was the first game of the Los Angeles Lakers team facing the New York Knicks team this season.
The New York Knicks team got off to a good start this season with 16 wins and 13 losses in 29 games, even if they didn't win many games Jake was very careful with the New York Knicks team that would surprise in this year's playoffs reaching the final.
So if the Los Angeles Lakers team reached the playoffs final this NBA season it was very likely that the opponent was the New York Knicks team, in the New York Knicks team there was one of Jake's great NBA idols who was Patrick Ewing who was also one of David Falk's best customers.
Patrick Ewing was always an excellent player and stood out in the current team of the New York Knicks, this team New York Knicks had one of the worst attacks of this season, but also had one of the best defenses which would make this game more balanced if the team defense New York Knicks managed to stop the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack.
”Welcome to everyone who came to watch another game this NBA season, this is a game between the Los Angeles Lakers against the New York Knicks, they are two great teams that will face each other today.”
”The New York Knicks team is doing well this NBA season and has one of the best defenses this season, with 16 victories and 13 defeats, the New York Knicks team wants to win this game more, the highlights of the New York Knicks team are the many times All-star Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston who have been playing very well this season.”
”The Los Angeles Lakers team is currently the best team with the best attack and a good defense too, with 28 wins and just 2 losses this season, the Lakers team is a favorite to win this home game.”
”With highlights from Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Jake Smith, the Los Angeles Lakers team can win this game if the best attack overcomes the New York Knicks team's strong defense in this game that promises to be balanced.”
The Los Angeles Lakers team would start that game with Jake playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Dennis Rodman playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.
The New York Knicks team would start the game with Chris Childs playing as PG, Allan Houston playing as SG, Latrell Sprewell playing as SF, Larry Johnson playing as PF, and Patrick Ewing playing as Center.
The game started and Shaquille O'Neal got the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who started organizing the first attack for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant on the right, Kobe received the ball and Allan Houston arrived pressing on defense, Kobe held the ball for a while and passed it to Rick Fox on the left.
Rick played well in the last game and was more confident to help the Los Angeles Lakers team in that game, Rick received the ball and Latrell Sprewell came pressing on defense, Rick tried to trick Sprewell with a feint, but Sprewell was not fooled.
Rick held the ball a little and passed it to Jake in the back, Jake received the ball and Chris Childs came pressing on the defense, Jake held the ball a little and passed it to Shaq further on the left.
Shaq received the ball and Patrick Ewing came pressing on the defense, Shaq used his strength to advance closer to the painted area, but Ewing was very strong too and did not let Shaq go too far.
Shaq managed to make the spin and tried the hook shot to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake knew that in this game Shaq would have a lot of difficulty playing against Patrick Ewing and he would have fewer points even playing normally and not being replaced.
In this game Jake and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team would have to think better about how to make the attack moves to overcome the strong defense of the New York Knicks team, achieving victory in that game was important for the Lakers team.
In another move, the New York Knicks team was in the attack, Childs advanced with the ball and passed to Houston on the left, Houston received the ball and Kobe came pressing on defense, Houston held the ball a little and passed it to Sprewell on the right.
Sprewell received the ball and Rick came in to press the defense, Sprewell managed to trick Rick with a feint and advanced into the area, Sprewell advanced and tried a mid-range shot to make 2 points for the New York Knicks team.