Chapter 560 - The Playoffs 10 (1/2)
Rider tricked Kobe and went outside the three-point line, in that game Rider was hitting a lot of 3-point shots just like Jake, after Jake's move, he wanted to make 3 points to decrease the advantage in points.
Rider stepped back and tried the shot from outside, but he didn't know that Jake expected Rider to do that and stop defending against Stoudamire and try to stop this attack, Rider jump to try the shot outside and Jake came right after and did the block.
Rider didn't expect Jake to make that block at the end of the game in a quick move like that, besides, Rider didn't even notice that Jake was approaching to try the block, Jake made the block and the ball went out.
The crowd was excited at the Great Western Forum with this block by Jake and realizing that the victory was close, the Portland Trail Blazers team still had possession of the ball, but it was only 6 seconds away and the pressure was even greater after this block by Jake.
Rider passed the ball to Stoudamire further back and the Portland Trail Blazers team had to decide to play before the end of possession, Shaq was playing again in that end game and Robert was playing as a PF.
Jake was defending against Stoudamire and the players of the Portland Trail Blazers team were attentive with Jake in this play, Stoudamire passed the ball to Grant who was on the right, Grant received the ball and has already advanced to the inside area.
Rick tried to defend and hinder Grant who was advancing, Grant advanced using force being careful not to make a mistake and passed the ball to Arvydas Sabonis later on, Sabonis received the ball and Shaq was pressing in defense.
The ball possession time was ending and Sabonis made the spin and tried the layup, Shaq who was defending jump and made the block rejecting Sabonis' attack, after this Shaq block the ball was still left for Jake who took the rebound and advanced with the ball to attack using his speed.
The defense of the Portland Trail Blazers team was unable to keep up with Jake's speed, who advanced for the attack alone, Jake advanced and scored 2 more points with a reverse dunk for the Los Angeles Lakers team cheering up the crowd.
With this sequence of 2 blocks made by Shaq and Jake, the Portland Trail Blazers players became discouraged, the game continued with the Lakers team attacking and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the second game of this phase of the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 108 points against 98 points for the Portland Trail Blazers, in that game Jake played for 48 minutes and had 35 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, 7 steals, and 1 block.
”The game is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team managed to win that game and this is the Lakers team's second victory in 2 games of this playoff phase, with 2 more victories the Los Angeles Lakers team advances to the West Conference Finals.”
”This game was much more balanced and the Los Angeles Lakers team only guaranteed victory at the end of the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers team was playing very well in this game with the great performance of Brian Grant and Isaiah Rider and without relying heavily on Damon Stoudamire.”
”Throughout the season Stoudamire was the main player on the team and who has the most points, but with Jake Smith defending against him, Stoudamire did not play well in this game or in the last game, the Portland Trail Blazers team coach realized this and that game the attack was much better.”
”Jake still defended well with a lot of steals, but it didn't help as much as in the last game and so the Portland Trail Blazers team almost managed to win differently from the last game in which the Los Angeles Lakers team won by almost 30 points.”
”In the last quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers team tried to use the strategy of making fouls to disrupt the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team and not give the opponent much time in possession of the ball.”
”With this strategy, Shaquille O'Neal, who was doing well in the game, was replaced so as not to be the target of the opponent's fouls, so the Portland Trail Blazers team almost managed to win the game.”
”But the Los Angeles Lakers team was also playing very well in that game, Kobe Bryant was the highlight of the team in the attack with 32 points until the last quarter, at the end of the game Jake made a beautiful shot of 3 points from 35 feet and then managed a block.”
”Shaq made another block in the same play and Jake scored 2 more points with a reverse dunk, those 3 plays increased the Los Angeles Lakers team's advantage by 5 points and it was the final blow against the Portland Trail Blazers team that was tired.”
”With the third triple-double in 3 games Jake Smith was again the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers team despite the excellent performance of Kobe Bryant, Jake is being instrumental in these Los Angeles Lakers team victories.”