บท 56: Tempers flare

Kyle saw that Trell was still on the floor so he walked over to help. He extented his hand out toward Trell.

Trell saw Kyle's hand and slapped it away "Get that shit outta here man. Ain't nobody need that." He jumped to his feet "I'm good okay? Just get back on offense dude."

Udonis looked around the court before he inbounded the ball to Jason who was out in the perimeter. Once again Alex was guarding him tightly.

'Damn! That block was crazy. I don't think I've seen Trell get rejected like that before. This is gonna be tricky for sure.'

Jason managed to gain some initial seperation from Alex by driving right and then coming to a hard stop with a through the legs dribble.

Alex saw Jason going for a jumper so he jumped forward to try and close the step of seperation and contest the shot.

After Jason got his defender in the air with the head fake he simply dribbled two steps to the left and drained the mid-range shot.

The home section errupted into cheers and applause as Jason scored Jefferson's first basket. Now it was their turn to play some defense.

Verde Gardens tried to run some off-ball screens and cuts but with Jason directing the rest of Jefferson's defense they were able to prevent their opponent from creating any good shots.

After not being able to make any open looks from their plays they kicked the ball out to Danilo on the right wing.

The rest of his teammates cleared the paint and moved to the sides as they opened the floor for his iso.

Jason was yelling out instructions and directing the defense when he was interrupted by Trell "I got this man! Just mark your guys!"

Jason sighed as he gave up on instructing the defense. He decided to give Trell what he wanted as he left him in charge of guarding Danilo by himself.

Trell clapped his hands before spreading his arms wide open as he got into a defensive stance "What you got son!? Bring it on!"

Danilo smirked as he started dribbling the ball. He stared Trell down as he sized him up. He hit Trell with a quick crossover to the right as he began driving in that direction.

Trell side stepped and made contact as he tried to stick with him. All of his teammates were surprised as Trell seemed to be overwhelmed physically.

Danilo didn't seem to be bothered by Trell's defensive presence as he drove all the way into the paint.

Trell was focused completely on Danilo 'It don't matter that you got here cause you ain't about to hit a shot over me.'

With Trell on his left hip Danilo jumped into the air for the layup. Trell jumped as well and and put his arms out to try and block the shot.

While the two were in the air the referee blew his whistle. Danilo had the ball resting in his right hand as he readjusted before tossing it toward the basket.

The ball fell through the net right as the two of them landed. Danilo flexed his right arm and slapped his bicep before yelling "AND ONE!"

Danilo high fived his teammates as he made his way to the free-throw line "I'm too strong bro! He can't guard me man! Let's gooo!"

Trell ground his teeth and his hands started shaking at his side from how hard he was squeezing them.

Jason walked over and patted him on the back "It's okay Trell. You tried your best and that was some solid D. That time great offense just beat good defense."

Trell turned to Jason "I don't need the cheesey cheer up lines alright? I got him next time. It won't happen again."

Jason responded "Trell I don't think we should do that. Let's just-" Trell interrupted him "I said I got it! He won't score on me again!" Jason shook his head as he went to the side so that Verde Gardens could shoot their free-throws.

After Danilo drained his free-throw Kyle inbounded the ball to Jason. After he got passed halfcourt Alex started his tight defense.

Instead of calling for a play Jason called for the team to spread out so he could iso. After the floor was cleared he called for a pick from Kyle.

Jason ran his defender straight into the pick and started attacking the basket which forced Kyle's defender to switch on to him.

Jason pulled Kyle's defender with him all the way to the basket before throwing the bounce pass under his legs.

Kyle caught the pass and went up strong for the layup. Alex was behind Kyle but he didn't do anything as he knew that he was too late.

After making the basket Kyle pumped his fist in excitement. Jason laughed before walking over and lightly punching him on the chest "Nice one bro. Let's keep it up."

The game continued at a pretty even pace. Jefferson would score on one end and Verde Gardens would answer back with a bucket of their own.

Jason facilitated most of Jefferson's points this quarter either by scoring in isolation or with the pick and roll with Kyle and Udonis.

On the other end most of the baskets that Jefferson allowed were scored by Danilo in isolation as he was guarded by Trell.

Danilo scored on Trell in a variety of ways. One possession he posted Trell up before hitting a turn around jumper right in his face.

The possession after that he jab stepped to the right which caused Trell to step in that direction. And with the little bit of space created he hit a three pointer.

Because of Trell's stubborn desire to guard Danilo one on one he was able to get plenty of good open looks.

The only reason Jefferson was still slightly ahead was because Danilo didn't make every shot that he took.

With only three minutes left in the quarter Coach Swendel called for a timeout. He looked at his players "Alright good job out there guys.

We're up 18-15 but let's try and make that lead bigger before the quarter ends. Jason and Trell you guys take a break. Dj and Nick you guys are in."

Jason spoke up "Actually Coach I'll stay in. But Nick can come in for Trell." Coach Swendel looked at Jason questioningly.

"You sure about that Jason!? You've been going at it this whole quarter. We're gonna need you down the stretch. You can't afford to run out of steam early."

Jason shook his head "Don't worry Coach. I know how important it is to pace yourself. But right now is the time to make a push. I can feel it."

Coach Swendel hesitated for a few moments before finally agreeing "Alright Jason. You know your body best so I won't try to tell you when your tired. Just make sure you listen to your body okay?"

Jason nodded his head before stepping back out on to the court with the rest of his teammates. As they were walking he talked with them.

"We're gonna switch things up on defense this time around. I want Nick to defend their Point Guard while I'll take on their Small Forward."

Everyone except for Udonis seemed surprised. Udonis nodded his head and smiled "Alright bro. You got this." He then extended a fist out to Jason.

Jason smiled as they fist bumped "Let's go show them what Jefferson is all about. Let's end the quarter strong."

Jason started with the ball in his hand as he scanned the court from the perimeter. Alex focused completely on Jason.

He thought he saw an opportunity as Jason moved his eyes to the court. He lunged forward to try and steal the ball.

Jason sneered 'You're a decade too early to be thinking about picking my pockets kid.' Jason dribbled the ball behind his back avoiding Alex's attempt to steal it.

He then drove passed Alex while he was off balance from lunging for the steal. The person that was guarding Trell had gotten so used to leaving his man in order to help on defense.

Unfortunately for him he was guarding Nick now instead of Trell. He went into the paint to try and help.

As soon as Jason saw that Nick was open he passed the ball to him in the corner. The pass was perfect as Nick was able to catch it and shoot in one fluid motion.

The ball flew toward the basket and swished through the net. Nick held his hand up after the follow through of his shot before pointing to Jason to acknowledge the assist.

Verde gardens brought the ball up the court. Alex was surprised to find that Nick was the one defending him.

Danilo was the most surprised as Jason guarded him. Jason smiled at Danilo "I hope you enjoyed your scoring display earlier. Because that might be the last time you score today."