Chapter 65: First Playoff Game! 2006 Spurs vs Kings: First Round Game 1
*Sound Effects*
**Language**
'Thoughts'
"Dialogue"
(Point of View)
| Setting |
[System]
| Location: SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas|
| Date: Saturday April 22, 2006 4:45 pm |
(1st Person - Javi)
I took a breath as I opened up my locker and put my sweats over my jersey.
I heard a voice from behind me; turning around, I smiled upon seeing Brent.
"You ready?" he asked with a smile.
"Always," I said, flashing a confident smile to which he nodded in return.
My mind flashed through images of all the various games I had simulated to prepare myself for these playoffs.
'Can't be worse than the Pistons game,' I thought as I laced up my shoes and sat down, waiting for Pop's usual pre-game speech.
Moments passed as everyone arrived in the locker room and similarly got ready; some, like Manu, had a tradition of taking showers right before a game. It never made sense to me, but I knew everyone had their own thing.
I looked at Tony, who seemed to be smiling while talking to one of the staff members before turning to look in my direction.
I nodded my head; he did the same but looked away soon after, not restarting the conversation he was having.
"Must be the playoffs," I muttered. Everyone had their way of coping with the atmosphere.
Timmy's way was, of course, listening to some slow jazz music if he wanted to calm himself and occasionally some island music if he wanted to hype himself up.
I also liked to listen to some rap music while warming up.
Moments passed as everyone started chatting, but it didn't seem like any of them were nervous. Well, if they were, they didn't show it visibly.
Though it made sense as this was a relatively low-intensity game considering they played in the Finals last year and having many years of playoff experience prior to that.
Eventually, Pop entered the locker room as the room went from buzzing to silent.
"Alright, I know that we're the 1st seed going against the 8th seed," he said before stopping briefly as we hung onto his next words.
"But don't think for a second that we will joke around here. No slacking off. We still will play this like it's a finals game," he stated seriously.
"Now get out there and don't embarrass yourselves," he stated as he shooed us off.
I got up and followed alongside Brent towards the court.
"Javi, stay back for a second," Pop said suddenly as I was about to head out.
I looked over at Brent, who just shrugged and made his way out. 'What does Pop want?' I thought.
'He's probably worried since this is my first playoff game,' I reasoned.
As I approached Pop, I started first. "Don't worry about me, Pop. I can do this," I said with a confident smile.
Pops opened his mouth to speak but held back before nodding his head slowly and saying, "You're right. Go get 'em." He patted my shoulder, and I made my way towards the court.
...
...
...
I soon met up with the team as we waited for the moment to run out onto the court. A few moments later, a staff member with a headset gave the thumbs up, and we rushed out onto the court.
The arena erupted in cheers as we arrived on the floor. Looking up, I saw thousands of fans cheering while standing.
A smile graced my face. 'It never gets old,' I thought.
My eyes scanned the crowd before landing on my family, who were sitting just a row or two behind the court. Next to them sat Coach Will along with my AAU team. With the semester ending for college, they were finally able to attend one of my games.
Of course, it had to be in a playoff game where there was even more added pressure, but I welcomed it in stride.
I sent a wave and smiled in their direction. 'Now I really got to show off,' I thought.
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| Location: Unknown, San Antonio, Texas|
| Date: Saturday April 22, 2006 4:50 pm |
(3rd Person)
A college student sighed as he parked his car, having just arrived home. He sat momentarily in the car before hitting the steering wheel in anger, frustration having built up from all the homework and projects due around the corner. Today had been especially hard on him as he took an exam for his Lab class, and he knew he didn't do too well. Part of him was upset with himself, but deep down, he knew he had limited time to study with all the other things stretching his time thin.
After cooling off for a moment, he sighed once more as he turned off his car and headed inside his house, calling out, "I'm back." However, he was met with silence. 'Where is everyone?' he thought, continuing to call out as he made his way towards his room. Upon entering, he turned on the light and threw his backpack on his bed.
He booted up his computer and decided to wind down by playing games, even though he knew he still had a busy schedule packed ahead. He really needed a break from all the noise. Admittedly, he realized that doing so would affect his grades as he wasn't using his time to study, but what mattered most to him was his mental state, and all else followed after.
He learned his lesson from high school, having slaved away hours and hours. Even though he made it to the top of his class, he neglected friendships and relationships. In the end, he had a piece of paper showing he was the best, but no real friends by his side, while also battling anxiety and depression.
From then on, he tried his best not to worry about grades and instead enjoy life, since he knew in a few years he wouldn't remember what grade he got on a test for a class he no longer remembered or cared about.
Though he tried his best, he still occasionally got frustrated whenever he did poorly, but it was still a work in progress.
Minutes passed by before he heard the sound of the door opening as multiple voices flooded the house. A smile crept on his face as internally he was grateful to have his family around him despite everything.
"Matt! Pizza's here!" he heard the muffled voice of his mom call from outside the door. He stopped his game as he turned around to join his family.
"The game's about to start!" said his younger sister Emily, who was a year younger than him. She had become more interested in watching basketball more recently, having developed a crush on one of the players.
Alongside his mom was his dad, who had already secured the best spot on the couch with a beer in hand. Sitting on the couch as well was his older brother, Sam, who sat just to the side of their dad and was similarly awaiting to be served. Matt shook his head at their antics as he fashioned himself a plate.
A moment later, the TV was turned on, and quickly the channel was changed to the game. The timing couldn't have been more perfect as they watched the players gather for the jump ball.
'At least I get to watch this game,' Matt thought with a smile, as his mind was quickly whisked away from thoughts about school, and he instead was drawn towards the screen as he sat down to enjoy his food along with the show.
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(1st Person - Javi)
"LET'S GO SPURS, LET'S GO!" The booming arena echoed with the cheers for the team as Timmy inbounded the ball to Tony, who made his way towards our side of the court.
They quickly got into positions and began to run 'Floppy' which was a play for a screen set near the baseline for a perimeter shot. Just as planned, Tony passed the ball to Manu, who rose up from beyond the arc off a screen from Timmy. The shot arched beautifully and hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
"NICE SHOT!" I yelled along with the rest of my team, rising out of my seat to celebrate.
I glanced up at the score: '28-20'. We had an 8-point lead with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Tony had really shown up today, having only missed two shots, currently tallying 14 points on 5/7 shooting.
I smiled in excitement as I waited for my moment to step onto the court and show everybody here what I had in store.
*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
The whistle marked the end of the first quarter, and the starters took a seat while Pop got in the middle of us. In typical Pop fashion, despite still maintaining a 6-point lead with the score at 32-26, he didn't have any kind words but instead berated the team for the mistakes and turnovers.
"Javi, get ready to start," he said to me directly, before also calling on Brent, Nick, Michael, and Robert.
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(3rd Person)
Matt continued to devour his pizza as he watched alongside his family. He took a sip of his soda while keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.
"The Spurs start the second half with a few lineup changes. Coming in for Tony Parker, Javier Morales, who has been an X-Factor despite being a rookie," stated the announcer as an image of the roster changes for both teams appeared on the screen.
"In his first-ever playoff appearance, let's see if Javier can maintain his level of effectiveness on the court," added the announcer.
"He's so hot," said his sister, causing him to choke on his soda before erupting into a fit of coughing.
Laughs echoed through the room, undoubtedly a memory they would all cherish in the future.
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A/N: Hope you're enjoying the story! Thanks once again for your patience with these delayed chapters. College is still ongoing, with projects due soon along with even more just around the corner. Nevertheless, I want to express my gratitude to all of you for following along! We've reached nearly 500 collections on the story, a far cry from when I first began this journey. I never imagined so many people would enjoy the story, so once again, thank you!
Side Note: I will make up for the delayed chapters with some bonus chapters on the back-end during summer.
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