The commentators on the sidelines could see it now, too. For the Big Three to play well, Wang Yi had to serve as the glue holding them together.
That was the only way the Big Three could reach their full potential.
But that wasn't a long-term solution.
If the Big Three really wanted to achieve the power of 1+1+1>3, then James and Wang Yi, Paul and Wang Yi, and James and Paul all had to develop excellent chemistry.
And that would take time.
Some of them would have to make sacrifices, while others would need to change their habitual style of play.
It would be a long and difficult process.
The 76ers' head coach, Rivers, wasn't worried at all.
He'd been a head coach for 24 years and knew all too well how to deal with a Big Three that had only just come together.
So he called a timeout.
Against a newly assembled Big Three, a single timeout was often all it took to disrupt their chemistry.
And sure enough, things went just as he'd expected. When play resumed, the chemistry the Big Three had shown moments earlier seemed to have vanished, and they couldn't manage another basket as spectacular as the last one.
The 76ers stayed hot throughout the entire second quarter.
Harden hit four three-pointers, while Great Emperor Embiid had no trouble taking on Capela in the paint. By the end of the first quarter, the Kings had fallen behind, 23–30.
As soon as the gap opened up, haters across the United States started making noise again.
Smith said, "The Kings are falling apart like they always do. We've seen this from them far too often in the preseason. They come out blazing for a few possessions, making you think they're unstoppable, then they quickly fizzle out.