Jake knew his mother well and hoped that Eva would do something like that, Jake didn't care that Eva came only at the end of the day because he was already happy that she was away from the restaurant to watch his games.

It was the first time that Eva saw the new house that Jake bought and she was very surprised, she already thought that the house they had in Miami was a big mansion, but Jake's house in Los Angeles was much bigger and had much more things.

Unlike their home in Miami, Eva noticed the various security guards and employees that Jake's house had, it was something that Eva had only seen at Matthew's house, so Mary who knew Eva was coming was to meet her at the door.

"Good evening, ma'am, it is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Mary and I am the governess of Sir Smith's house."

"Good night, Mary, my son talked about you, thanks for looking after him for the past few months."

"It's my job, ma'am."

Soon Mary took Eva to where Jake was and he was happy to see that his mother had finally arrived, unfortunately, it was too late and Jake knew that Eva must be tired after working at the restaurant all day.

"Mom, I'm happy to see you again after so long, I thought I could only see you after the games ended this season."

"Of course, I would come as soon as your team made it to the playoffs, you should know that."

"It is a pity that it is too late, otherwise I would show you the house, but tomorrow we will have time before the game, dinner is ready, I was just waiting for you."

Eva was happy to see Jake well and happy after the great games she knew the Los Angeles Lakers team was having, Eva was even more proud of Jake for being one of the best NBA players in his debut year.

Jake and Eva had dinner and then talked for a while before Jake took Eva to the room he had prepared for her as soon as he bought the house, Jake chose one of the best beds and let Mary help with the decorating later.

This was his house so naturally, it was also his mother's, so Jake chose a room for Eva right after choosing his room and already asked the painters to put a feminine color in the room.

Eva was surprised and thrilled to hear that Jake prepared this room for her shortly after buying the house, all the furniture and decor were better than the ones in her room in Miami that she herself had chosen from the best she found at the time.

Of course, Eva did not think like Jake who had some furniture imported from other states and countries with the help of a decorator, even Mary who decorated the room did not know where Jake would buy the furniture from and she just chose the best one as Jake asked.

Soon the day of the first playoff game came, the first 2 games would take place in Los Angeles because the Los Angeles Lakers team had ranked first and would always have the advantage of playing the first games at home.

So the media and fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team hoped that the Lakers team would win these first two games and perhaps win the third game by also qualifying more easily.

Jake woke up happy and relaxed even though it was his first playoff game, Jake ate his breakfast with his mother and then showed her the whole house, Jake showed the cinema, the gym and the other things he adapted at his house.

Eva really liked the cinema and the pool and also liked the library she had at Jake's house, the only things they didn't have in Miami were the library and the cinema, that was normal after all it was Jake who prepared their house in Miami too.

Jake didn't want to make a movie in Miami because he didn't know if Eva would like it, the only thing the Miami home had was the kitchen space that Jake prepared for Eva in case she wanted to try some dishes she wanted to make in the restaurant.

"Mom, if you want I can ask you to make a cinema and a library in Miami too, it's not difficult to do, I just didn't think you would like it."

"I don't want to, I thought it was cool at your place and when I come here I can watch some movies with you and use your library to read a little, having it in Miami wouldn't be good because I wouldn't do it alone."

Eva knew she liked to spend most of her time at the restaurant, so she thought it was useless to have it at the Miami home, Jake had bought several books and left it in the Miami office and Eva didn't have time to read even a part their.

The two talked for a while Jake showed the house to his mother, but in the afternoon Jake was totally focused when he went to the playoff game site, Jake knew how important that game was and he would not underestimate the opponent.

The first opponent was the Minnesota Timberwolves team, the Los Angeles Lakers team played 3 times this season against the Minnesota Timberwolves team, there were 3 victories, but Jake remembered that in his past life the Los Angeles Lakers team would have lost one of those games.

The Minnesota Timberwolves team made a great start to the season with 7 wins and 3 losses, until afterward, the Minnesota Timberwolves team started losing several games, even so, the Minnesota Timberwolves team managed to qualify for the playoffs.

Certainly, Kevin Garnett, who was the best player of the team this season, was mainly responsible for this, the fans couldn't say that Kevin's performance this season was worth the renewal of the millionaire contract he had, but at least it didn't irritate the fans.

At least this was Kevin's best season on the Minnesota Timberwolves team, this season he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, of course, the Minnesota Timberwolves team had other good players to qualify for the playoffs.

Jake arrived and saw the fans coming to fill the Great Western Forum, Jake hoped that the Los Angeles Lakers team could win the NBA title this season, which was the last season that the Lakers team would play at the Great Western Forum.

Jake arrived in the locker room and waited some time until the players and coach Kurt Rambis arrived, all the players were fine for that game and Dennis Rodman was still on the team.

The captain of the Los Angeles Lakers team was Shaquille O'Neal who was the most important player on the team and had more experience in playoffs and playing in the Los Angeles Lakers team, Dennis Rodman and Rick Fox had more experience than him, but Shaq was still the captain.

Shaq was not a player who made many speeches on the Los Angeles Lakers team, so everyone expected Coach Rambis to say a few words before that first playoff game if the Los Angeles Lakers team won the NBA title that moment would be important.

"This is your first playoff game this season, even though this season has been reduced and there have been fewer games, no one can deny that you had a great campaign winning 44 games and losing only 6 games."

"Your great performance this season has shown the media and the fans of our team your willingness to qualify for the playoffs, I am sure that now the will of everyone here and that our team qualifies for the NBA Finals and that we can win the NBA title."

"This is my desire too, before the start of this season I could never hope that I would become the head coach of this team, this is a dream for me and for any coach."

"I don't know if I'm going to continue as the head coach of this team for the next season, so if possible I would like you to fight for our team to win the NBA title this season and so I will be proud of that for my entire life."

Rambis' motivational speech was with honest words and it touched the feelings of all the players who were most excited to play better, Kobe Bryant and Jake were young players and knew they would have other chances to win the NBA title.

Shaquille O'Neal was not that young, but he also knew he would have other opportunities to win the NBA title, Rick Fox was excited to try to win the NBA title this season and Dennis Rodman had already won 5 NBA title in his career.

But hearing coach Rambis say that made them all want to win the NBA title this season, of course, they needed to win that game and the next games against the Minnesota Timberwolves team.

Soon the players of both teams went to the court, the players of the Minnesota Timberwolves team were called to the court and were not very applauded for being the opponents, soon the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team were called.

All the players that entered were very celebrated by the fans who shouted the names of the players, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and in the end, Jake were the players that made the crowd more excited when they entered the court.

The Los Angeles Lakers team would start that game with Jake Smith 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 Minnesota Timberwolves team would start this game with Terrell Brandon playing as PG, Anthony Peeler playing as SG, Sam Mitchell playing as SF, Joe Smith, and Kevin Garnett playing as PF and Kevin defending against Shaq in that game.

Both teams were with the initial players that they had in most games and this was probably the team that they would start all the games of this playoff, they would change if they wanted to try to play with a different formation.