Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Some of the people that were in the bleachers came down as they surrounded Jason. They were all smiling as they cheered him on.

"You the man Jaya!" "You guys got this!" "Show em what Jefferson is all about!" "Ahhh! We love you Jaya!" "Oh my god! I touched his hair!"

They helped to pick him up while patting him on the back, playfully punching him on the shoulder, and ruffling his hair.

Jason smiled as he shook hands, high fived, and thanked them. A few of them hugged him from the back and the side which mad him laugh.

He then adjusted his mindset before going back into the game. The referee handed the ball to Udonis who was standing at the sideline.

He gave Jason a thumbs up before inbounding the ball to him. Jason then began to dribble the ball up the court.

After crossing half court he gave his team a few seconds to get into position before signaling and calling out a play.

The opposing team's Point Guard turned his head to get a quick look to see how the play was developing.

Jason didn't let that opportunity slip away. He crossed the ball over to his left hand as he began to drive before the play he had originally called for could even begin.

This caught his defender off guard as he was two steps behind him now. The rest of Nashton Academy was in a similar situation as the sudden drive made them scramble.

Jason's defender went into a sprint as he tried to catch up with him. Meanwhile, as Jason was driving toward the paint Nashton Academy's last line of defense stepped up in an attempt to contain Jason.

As 3D stepped up toward Jason this left Udonis open in the paint. Jason saw this and threw a pass fake in Udonis' direction.

The pass fake caused 3D to turn back toward Udonis. But as soon as he saw that he didn't have the ball he knew that he messed up.

He turned back toward Jason as fast as he could but it was too late. Jason stepped on the brakes as he tossed up a floater that went over 3D's outstretched hand.

3D tried his best to block and contest the shot but Jason had stopped a few steps away from him before tossing up the high arcing floater.

Not just that. Jason's original defender had been chasing him at full speed. He wasn't prepared for Jason to suddenly stop.

As Jason landed back on the court after putting up the floater the defender bumped into his side which caused the referee to blow his whistle.

The crowd grew excited after knowing that there was a possibility for a three point and one play. They all watched the ball in anticipation.

The ball traveled high over 3D's outstretched hand as he jumped. It then floated for a second before sinking straight through the net.

The crowd all jumped to their feet as they roared in excitement. The applause and thunderous cheering showered down.

Jason had a fierce expression on his face as he chest bumped Udonis. Jason snarled with his nostrils flaring as Udonis patted him on the back.

Jason thumped his chest twice with his right hand as he psyched himself up before making his way to the free throw line.

Their wasn't any doubt as Jason easily sank the free throw line. His shooting form stayed smooth and technically sound showing his confidence.

The 4th quarter started off in Jefferson's favor as Jason's passionate, firey, hard-nosed play set the momentum on their side.

But after getting hit with the pass fake from Jason 3D made it a point to not be outplayed as he put his head down and bulled his way in the paint.

Even with Kyle locking down their paint Jefferson didn't have anyone capable of defending 3D one on one.

This problem only became worse with the lack of Kyle's length and shot blocking. 3D murdered anyone when they tried to defend him one on one.

Vince and Udonis felt like tiny pebbles being carried down a vigorous stream as they were easily pushed around by 3D in the post.

And even when they opted to double team 3D instead of kicking the ball back out to the perimeter he would just throw up a shot at the basket.

Best case scenario was the ball went in. But even when the shot would miss 3D would simply grab the offensive rebound and shoot again.

Without the ability to beat him for the rebound 3D was able to make Jefferson's team look like a bunch of kids playing against an adult.

Thankfully although Jefferson lacked the ability to stop 3D from scoring the same could be said about Nashton Academy and Jason.

Jason took matters into his own hands as he took control of the offense. The rest of the guys turned into auxiliary pieces as he became the main focus of attack.

Off the pick and roll Jason was killing Nashton Academy. If the defender went under the screen then Jason would fearlessly pull the trigger and shoot the three point shot.

If they tried to fight over the screen then Jason would drive to the paint and either finish over and around 3D with his wide array of tricky finishes or pull up with the mid range shot.

Jason would also occasionally mix things up as he split the defenders on the pick and roll which also helped to collapse the defense. He would then kick the ball out to the open man.

Defense seemed to have become an after thought as the game began to resemble the classic western movies of the past.

The game turned into a shoot out that would have fit in the setting of the wild wild west. However this wasn't because of a lack of desire to play defense or because the team's not valuing defense.

It was just that both team's lacked the necessary personal to play the level of defense required to contain the other's lethal offensive weapon.

As the 4th quarter reached it's halfway point Nashton Academy had possession of the ball when they called for a timeout.

The teams were tied at 90-90. This was proving to be an incredibly high scoring game.

Jason's wobbly legs barely managed to get him to the bench before his body crumpled into a chair.

His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to pull in air for his body. Every breathe felt like it wasn't enough as his lungs desired for more.

He took off the headband made by Kyle's mom as he then wrung out the sweat from it. A large portion of sweat was squeezed out as it then splattered on to the floor.

Jason took off the hair tie that was keeping his hair tied into a bun. As his hair fell to the sides of his face he then gulped down mouthfuls of water from his sports bottle.

He then turned it over above his head in an attempt to pour the water over himself. But to his surprise only a drop of water fell on his head.

He brought the bottle to his face to inspect it but he had a hard time concentrating his vision on the bottle 'Guess I drank more than I thought...'

Udonis saw Jason's hazy gaze as he worriedly shook him "Yo you alright bro? You don't look so good."

Jason's gaze clarified a little as he turned to Udonis and chuckled "My bad. Just a little tired. I'll be good by the time the timeouts over."

Jason then reached down toward the box of fresh sports bottles and pulled one out. He poured the ice cold water over his head.

As the cooling sensation fell over him he felt as though he had found his second wind. His vision went back to normal and his breathing calmed down a bit.

Udonis was still worried as he stared at Jason "There's no need to go so hard Jason. I know that you want this win bad.

But you and the other guys still have next year. You would have to be stupid to risk doing something that could affect you for the rest of your life just for a single game."

Jason let the ice cold water stay on himself for a few seconds before drying up a bit with his white towel.

"Trust me UD I know that. I'm not about to gamble the rest of my life for a single game. But just because we have another shot next year doesn't mean that this shot is less important.

You know me. I go all out. I leave a lot of things on the court. Blood, sweat, tears, but one thing I don't leave out there is regrets.

I don't want to think about tonight years down the road and think that I didn't give it everything I had. But trust me, I know my body."

Technically Jason wasn't lying. Although he was gambling a little bit Jason believed strongly in the system.

He had the Iron Man badge that made his body tougher and made it harder to get injured as well as the Recovery Boost function that made it much easier for his body to heal up.

After hearing Jason say that Udonis reluctantly nodded his head as he decided to follow Jason's lead.

After drying up Jason put his headband back on and tied his hair back up into a man bun. Although Jason was still tired he wasn't too worried as he looked out across the court at Nashton Academy's bench.

During the timeout Nashton Academy's head coach and assistant coach had taken off 3D's shoes and had sprayed his feet with something out of a can.

They also spent the timeout massaging his legs and helping to cool him off. Even now 3D looked like he was tired as his breathing was rough and labored.

The clock buzzed indicating that the timeout was over. Jason looked at Trell "Tell me one thing. How badly do you want this win?"

Trell smirked as he replied "Bro, is that even a question? We don put too much into this season just to take it easy at the finish line."

Jason smiled as he nodded his head "Here's our lineup. I'll run the Point, Nick at Shooting Guard, Matt at Small Forward, Udonis at Power Forward, and Trell at Center."

The guys all had shocked expressions on their face as they stared at Jason. Jason lightly punched Trell on the chest "I want you to guard 3D."

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