All of the players were huddled together as Udonis tried to give them a pep talk. Jason tried his best to pay attention but all that he could think about was the throbbing pain in his left hand.

'Fuck! It feels like the pain is just growing. I can't hold my left hand up without it trembling.' Jason snapped back to the real world when he heard Udonis' voice call his name.

"That sound good Jaya?" Jason looked up and saw that it wasn't just Udonis that was looking at him. All of the guys were staring at him as well.

Jason waved his right hand "Sorry. I zoned out a bit. What were you talking about UD?" Udonis sighed before looking at Jason with a serious expression.

"You sure you good bro? This the first time you ever been spaced out like that during a huddle. Your hand actin up?"

Jason shook his head "Nah bro I'm good. If anything I'm probably just tired. That kid they got coming off the bench is no joke.

He's been making me work that's for sure. Even without the ball in my hands this dude stays all up in my jersey. I can't even get enough space to fix my hair let alone get a shot off."

Udonis chuckled before pointing over at High Bridge's bench "You might be tired but it don't look like he's doing that much better.

You probably wearing him down more than what he's doing to you." Jason turned his head and took a look at High Bridge's bench.

Their coach had his clipboard up and he was talking and engaging his team. Nate was the only one who was sitting in his chair on the side and not part of the huddle.

Nate had a towel over his head as he hunched forward in his chair. He was staring straight down at the floor as his shoulders were raising and falling rapidly.

- - -

Coach Kaminsky was getting red in the face as he yelled at his players "Do you guys really want to win?

What kind of shit effort was that!? The other team only has 7 people! Seven! Why are we barely managing to keep the score tied?

Rudy! You need to step up on the defensive end. Nate is already taking on Jason. All you need to do is stick with one of Jefferson's other wing players.

How the hell did you leave him open for the cross court pass? Jason was literally at the opposite side of the court! My arthritic grandpa could have closed out faster than that!"

Rudy raised his hands up helplessly as he answered "It's not my fault Coach. I had to rotate to the inside because Ben here got his ankles crossed by a walkin tub of lard."

Ben threw his towel on the floor as he stared Rudy down "I didn't get my ankles crossed! He got one step ahead of me because he faked the hand off."

Rudy chuckled before shrugging his shoulders "Whatever. But because of that Jason was able to cut and then make the cross court pass out to the perimeter.

However way you want to word it you been the weakest link in this chain bro. I got 22 points so far.

Nate been clamping down on Jason and making shit hard for him. He's been running his ass off this whole quarter.

All of the other starters and even the bench players are playing hard and doing what they're supposed to do.

You literally just came back in from taking a rest on the bench. So why the hell are you playing like you're dead tired?

You're late on your rotations, you don't commit when you set a screen, you have no hustle around the basket,

you keep calling for the ball whenever you post up even though you're 4 for 12 from the field, and you still manage to bitch the most.

Either I'm doing my math wrong or yous a a certified hoe because ain't nothing adding up." Ben stood up and starting getting into Rudy's face.

He stared him down for a second before shoving him away "Just cause Coach K gives you some slack you think you're hot shit huh?"

Rudy chuckled before answering back "You sure you talking about me? Because from what I've seen you're the one playing like hot shit bro."

Ben gritted his teeth "You pussy ass bit-" Before he could finish his sentence Coach Kaminsky threw his clipboard on the floor and yelled out.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing!?" Rudy and Ben both turned around and looked at Coach Kaminsky.

He continued "You guys must think that I'm a pushover huh? You really think you can just start fighting in front of me?

Sit your assess down before I toss you both out of the game!" The two of them back away from each other.

They were about to sit down when the clock buzzed indicating the end of the timeout. Coach Kaminsky sighed.

"Nate sit down. Take a few minutes to catch your breathe. Rudy and Ben. You two need to find a way to get over whatever it is you guys are fighting over because you'll be going back in."

Rudy and Ben looked at each other before turning their heads in the opposite direction. Both teams began to make their way back to the floor.

- - -

Rudy clapped his hands as he called for the ball from Ben. Ben looked at him for a second before inbounding the ball to their Shooting Guard.

Rudy was surprised at first but then he just rolled his eyes 'You want to be petty huh? Fine. You ain't the only one who can play that game my guy.'

Rudy called for the ball from the Shooting Guard and immediately got the ball. He then began to dribble his way up the court.

He called for a screen from Ben but before he could even get into position to set the screen he began to drive towards the right.

Jason went into a full out sprint until he caught up to Rudy. He then turned his hips and began to shuffle his feet as he stayed in front of him with his hands up and to the side.

Ben was surprised by Rudy's move but then began to move back to the low block in order to be in position for the rebound in case his team missed the shot.

After having his initial drive get stopped by Jason Rudy decided to reset the offense as he made his way back to the top of the perimeter.

He had his body halfway turned toward Jason as he used it to protect the ball from him. After getting to the top of the perimeter Rudy pulled away from Jason and stood up straight as he stared him down.

"I gotta say man. You one tough match up. The TV ain't gassed you up for no reason. You can really hoop.

But you just got the short end of the stick getting matched up against me. If you had anyone else as a rival you would have been golden.

You can blame the writers for matching you up against the MC." Jason kept the same intense stare and emotionless face as he answered back.

"Just shut the fuck up and dribble. You talking a lot of trash but so far I've been busting your ass all game."

The corner of Rudy's eye twitched a bit after hearing Jason say that. He then bent down as he began to dribble.

Left, right, left, right, hard crossover! He then began to drive left. Jason lunged in that direction with his first step.

Rudy then began to pound the ball into the floor toward the right as it looked like he was trying to change directions.

Jason saw this and turned his hips as he began to change directions as well. But Rudy wasn't changing directions.

He had done an inside out dribble as he then pulled the ball back toward him. Jason recognized this and tried his best to close out on him.

But before he could close the distance Rudy got into his shooting motion as he quickly dipped the ball down slightly before once again bringing it back up.

Jason barely managed to get a hand in his face before the ball left Rudy's hand. The ball shot toward the hoop in a low arc before rattling in and through the rim.

Rudy fired off a finger pistol into the air before blowing the imaginary smoke off of the barrel "Bang! That's what I'm talking about!"

He turned around and started high fiving his teammates as they all made their way back on defense.

Jason was a little concerned as the score was now 58-61 with just two minutes left in the third quarter.

'We need some energy and momentum.' After getting the inbound pass from Udonis Jason began to scan the floor while making his way up the court.