Wang Yi heard the courtside commentator.
A 3D player?
A knowing smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
His ambitions went far beyond that.
With the system, his ambitions could be limitless.
Make the rotation;
Become a starter;
A Star;
An All-Star;
A Superstar;
A Legendary Superstar!
Or even become James—or a man who followed in the footsteps of a god!
That was his ambition.
Of course, achieving such lofty goals required taking one step at a time.
For now, what the Lakers needed most was a quality 3D player.
So for the time being, he would be a 3D player.
At the very least, he needed to establish himself on the Lakers first and earn a guaranteed contract.
By then, the gap had narrowed to ten points.
The Lakers went on offense.
After James dribbled into the frontcourt, he once again faked a drive, forcing the defense to collapse.
At the same time, he searched for Wang Yi.
But the Clippers were ready for it this time.
They used four players to defend the paint.
Beverley was left to guard Wang Yi.
As he pressed close and leaned into Wang Yi, Beverley talked trash:
"You hit two threes just now and think you're good? That was only because I wasn't guarding you. Try it now. Oh, sorry—with me on you, you won't even get the ball."
Wang Yi knew what Beverley was like.
He kept up the physical pressure while running his mouth, trying to get under your skin.
If you lost your temper, he'd won.
So Wang Yi stayed calm.
And he wasn't going to let Beverley cling to him like that.
He actively ran around Thick Eyebrows' screen—as a quality 3D player, he couldn't just stand beyond the three-point line and wait for the ball.
He had to learn to use screens on his own.
Only by getting open could he receive the ball.
Sure enough, Wang Yi found space.
James got him the ball right away.
Wang Yi caught it beyond the three-point line.
Beverley was smaller, though, and quickly squeezed past Thick Eyebrows' screen.
He charged straight at Wang Yi.
Of course, he couldn't block Wang Yi's shot from there.
But as he lunged, he swung his right hand hard toward Wang Yi's face.
Wang Yi's heart tightened.
He still got the shot off, but the sudden jolt affected him.
The ball bounced off the rim.
As for Beverley, he pulled his hand back just as it came within two inches of Wang Yi's face.
He never made any physical contact.
Wang Yi frowned.
Beverley had a reputation for playing dirty.
So Wang Yi had instinctively thought he was really going to hit him in the face.
Getting slapped in the face would have been bad enough. If Beverley had pulled a Green and gone for his eyes or groin, that would've been even worse.
It seemed his resolve still wasn't strong enough.
But you learned from your mistakes.
Wang Yi wasn't about to fall into the same trap twice.
Meanwhile, in the Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room,
both commentators spoke up:
"The magic's gone, just as expected."
"Right. But this is more like the shooting percentage you'd expect from a normal player."
"Yeah. If every shot went in, it'd be terrifying."
Seeing Wang Yi miss a shot, the haters in the comments immediately came crawling out again.
"Finally showing his true colors."
"He's used up all his luck."
"He was only shooting well before because they weren't playing physical defense. Look—Beverley gets physical, and he's useless."
"His body's pathetic too. Mad Dog had only just bared his teeth, hadn't even bitten him, and he'd already gone down."
"Go home already. You're embarrassing all of China."
Back on the court, Wang Yi showed no sign of discouragement after missing that shot.
A 45% shooting percentage didn't mean every shot would go in.
When play turned the other way, he faced Leonard's offense again.
This time, Leonard used a screen from their center, Zubac, and finally got free of Wang Yi's defense.
He made a mid-range shot.
The gap was back up to 12 points.
Wang Yi inbounded the ball.
As James took the pass, he asked, "Wang, are you still willing to shoot?"
Wang Yi smiled confidently.
"As long as you're willing to pass."
James had no idea where Wang Yi's confidence came from.
Wang Yi clearly wasn't playing as well tonight as he had the previous game.
And yet he was still just as confident.
Was it because of yesterday's practice?
Thinking it over, James dribbled into the frontcourt.
Wang Yi had already run around Thick Eyebrows' screen and reached the left wing, beyond the three-point line.
He had his back to the basket.
Beverley behind him was like a mad dog, fighting through the defense and chasing him relentlessly.
James's pass was already on its way.
Wang Yi caught the ball.
With his back to the basket, he suddenly jumped.
In midair, he turned around.
He leaned his upper body back.
His right foot extended slightly forward to keep his balance.
His left arm lifted.
He flicked his wrist!
And let it fly!
This time, the shot didn't follow a beautiful arc.
It took a flat trajectory.
The ball flew fast, too,
like a shell screaming through the air.
Bang—
It crashed through the hoop!
Beverley had assumed Wang Yi would at least turn around before jumping after catching the ball.
He never expected Wang Yi to jump with his back to the basket and turn in midair.
He didn't have time to block the shot before he heard a bang behind him.
The arena DJ's voice rang out:
"Three-pointer, by Wang—Yi!"
Hearing that unfamiliar, strange Eastern name, Beverley clenched his fist.
He muttered, "Shit!"
Then he kept talking trash to Wang Yi. "That was lucky. But you won't be so lucky next time."
Wang Yi smiled confidently.
He ignored the trash talk completely.
Beverley, though, was starting to get annoyed.
He'd guarded plenty of stars.
Usually, all it took was talking trash and provoking them with his movements to make them lose their temper.
They'd even start playing more aggressively.
That only benefited the Clippers.
But this Eastern player was different.
Beverley had been running his mouth for ages, and Wang Yi wasn't the slightest bit angry. Instead, he gave him a look of disdain.
It was like a brat kept testing an adult's patience,
while the adult only gave him a faint smile.
Because, to him, the kid was just a kid.
It had to be said: Beverley was as good at imagining things as he was at playing tough defense.
When play turned the other way, he dribbled across half court.
He looked for Leonard.
This time, the Eastern player wasn't glued to Leonard.
He stayed a step away, glancing now and then at Paul George.
He must have been trying to stop a pass to Paul George.
Beverley relaxed and sent the ball toward Leonard.
But right then, Wang Yi burst forward like a leopard.
He intercepted the ball in midair!
It turned out that his glances toward Paul George had just been a way to trick the offensive player.
He wanted Beverley to think he was distracted by George.
In reality, he'd kept his eyes on Leonard the whole time.
Wang Yi grabbed the ball and quickly dribbled upcourt with his left hand.
And right behind him, a figure was already in hot pursuit!
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